Zoids: Battle Tour
by KuzAnn
Summary: The Blitz Team may have won entry into Class S, but they'll have to fight to permanently secure the rank: the "S-Tour" will see them face a brutal series of opponents, all of them having secured their Class S status through their own battle tours. Even among the exceptional ranks of Class S, theirs will be a journey to remember.
1. A Stray Cloud (Season Prelude)

Only a few days into his vacation, and Bit Cloud was already in deep trouble.

"Give up the Liger Zero and we'll let you walk away in one piece!" one of the bandits yelled over loud speaker as his Rev Raptor taking a step closer.

"Yeah, all the way to the next town," another added with a cruel snicker, his Hel Cat seeming to bounce with amusement. "Hope your shoes don't wear out before you get there."

Bit put on a smile to mask his growing alarm. They'd caught him outside the cockpit while he was making dinner and getting ready to bed down for the night; there wouldn't be enough time to get all the way up to Liger's head before they started firing. On top of that, the scrubby land on the edge of the forest left no place for him to get to cover or hide, so those options were out. If there was a way out of this mess, he couldn't see it.

Liger Zero let out a low, frustrated growl as the foot closest to Bit flexed its claws.

"Hold on there, kitty-cat," the Rev Raptor pilot said, and his Zoid shifted to point one of its arm-mounted beam canons at Bit. "Try anything stupid and we'll blast your pilot to kingdom come. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"

There was no vocal reply from Liger, but the fact that he stopped moving was all the answer they needed.

"You guys too scared to fight me or what? Not like I have numbers on my side or anything," Bit said, doing his best to keep the smile on. He just needed to get up to the cockpit... Then these bandit scum would be in for it.

"What'd you say?" the Hel Cat pilot snapped, his Zoid taking a step forward. "You calling us cowards?"

"Don't let him goad you, idiot," the leader of the group cut in, her deep green Saber Tiger looking to the Hel Cat and baring its teeth. "A battle is exactly what he wants." The Saber Tiger turned to Bit and the Liger again. "Cowardice has nothing to do with it, just smart tactics," she said, her voice smug. "And if your Liger wants to keep you alive it'll come with us slowly and quietly."

Liger stood frozen for a few seconds as if still contemplating his options, then began to sidestep toward the nearest bandit Zoid, a grey and green Command Wolf.

Bit's heart sank as he watched Liger get farther and farther away. He simply couldn't figure a way out of this. To think he'd gone so far as winning the Royal Cup only to lose Liger Zero right afterward. He almost couldn't believe what was happening.

The sound of an explosion cut Bit's train of thought short The Rev Raptor collapsed before him, one arm completely blown off and a massive hole in the section of body next to where it had been. Panic ran through the bandits' ranks as they searched wildly for the source of the shot. Another Zoid went down—the Hel Cat this time—before Bit realized he had his opening. He sprang up and dashed toward Liger, who had realized their opportunity as well and was even now moving toward him.

Liger brought his head down and opened the canopy, allowing Bit to hop inside and buckle up.

Only the Saber Tiger was still standing by the time Liger brought his head up again. She looked around at her fallen companions, then back up at the Liger Zero and took a step back.

"Oh no ya don't!" Bit and Liger surged in, but the bandit was struck down before they could even complete the jump. Liger landed next to the Saber Tiger and backed off. "Whoa... Someone wasn't messing around," Bit muttered to himself as he looked around at the fallen bandits. Judging by the angle the shots came in at, the sniper should be...

There was a ridge above them that the sun was just now setting on, making it difficult to pick out any details on its top. Something flickered on the silhouette of the ridge as Bit stared, then nothing.

Bit moved Liger to cover just in case. He didn't want to risk it after such a lucky break.

Sirens sounded in the distance. Apparently someone had called the authorities, and now the bandits were abandoning their Zoids to flee into the forest. So the sniper had to be a good samaritan, or from the ZBC or local police. Either way, Bit was grateful for the help.

Maybe Naomi had followed him just to keep an eye on things, it sounded like something she might do. Bit guided Liger over to the Saber Tiger and took a closer look at the damage: two holes had been half-melted, half-blasted into the right rump of the Saber Tiger, crippling it while avoiding the Zoid core. A double barrel, it couldn't have been Naomi, then.

Bit checked the ridge again, but even with the glare of sunset gone he couldn't spot anything other than rock outcroppings and a few trees.

A squad of black siren-equipped Sinkers drifted to a halt in front of him. Their leader hailed him over comm, pausing when he saw Bit's face and then briefly turning to grin at the officer sitting next to him. "We received reports of bandits in the area accosting a white liger and its pilot. You're Bit Cloud and the Liger Zero, aren't you? I'd recognize you two anywhere after that last battle in the Royal Cup Tournament."

"Yep, that's us!" Bit replied, giving the officer a little wave of greeting. "And yeah, they caught me while I was making dinner, ran off into the woods after someone sniped them from that ridge over there." He pointed to it, and Liger moved his head toward the ridge as well to add emphasis.

"We'll take it from here. If you could follow our escort to the nearest town, we'd like to make sure that you get to a safe area tonight."


	2. Advice on Love With Naomi Flugel (SP)

A/N: Note that Naomi and Brad's ages have been tweaked in this fic: Naomi is 22, Brad is 21.

* * *

"Hey Brad," Naomi began, one elbow propped on the table they shared and her chin resting in her palm. "What's that Harry kid's deal? He seems to show up here a lot."

"Oh yeah, Harry... He's kind of a common nuisance," Brad replied. "He's been trying to woo Leena ever since we first met him, refuses to take 'no' for an answer. As for why he's so hung up on her..." He shrugged. "Who knows? I still don't understand what he sees in her."

"I heard that, Brad!"

Quick as a flash, Brad brought a hand up to catch Leena's boot before it could hit his head. "See what I mean?" he said as he tossed it back at Leena.

"Well, that part I was already aware of," Naomi said with a chuckle—Leena had quite the reputation for violence even outside the Blitz Team and its direct associates, and for the most part it tended to be a big turn off for people. "So no one else has talked to him about it?"

Brad shrugged. "We've tried. With Bit gone he's acting even more annoying than usual, probably thinks he has a better chance with Leena now that his 'romantic rival' is out of the picture."

"The attention was kinda flattering at first but now it's just plain obnoxious," Leena cut in as she walked over to them. "He's a lost cause, yet another victim of my charm and beauty," she added with a preening sigh.

"Whatever you say," Brad muttered. He just managed to deflect the retaliatory punch that followed.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't hit my boyfriend," Naomi said coldly, giving Leena a glare.

"Yeah yeah, he started it," Leena said, though she laid off and took a step back. "Why the sudden curiosity? Did you only _just _notice today?"

Naomi ignored Leena's little snipe at her intellect and instead answered her question: "Just kind of ridiculous to see him pining after someone like you is all," she said with a smirk.

"You wanna fight?!" Leena's hands came down on the table, nearly knocking Brad's coffee to the floor.

"What? _You _started it that time," Naomi said, getting to her feet. "Besides, I've already beaten you before. You really want to go through that again, or are you up for a one on one duel to settle this matter?"

Leena stared Naomi down for a few moments, then turned her nose up and crossed her arms over her chest. "Good luck if you're gonna try to change Harry's mind," she said. "It's not my fault he has excellent taste."

* * *

Harry was just putting the finishing touches on a new plan to win Leena's heart when Sebastian found him at his desk.

"Harry, a Gun Sniper just showed up at the front gate and—"

"A Gun Sniper? _You mean Leena's come to visit?!_" Harry leaped to his feet so fast that he knocked his chair over and then almost tripped over himself as he moved past the desk, sprinting for the door once he got his feet under him and leaving Sebastian far behind.

He passed Benjamin in the hangar, the robot's question—whatever it was—falling on deaf ears as Harry shoved past and focused on getting to the entrance where Leena would surely be waiting. Harry's mind was in a flurry as he tried to think of explanations for why Leena would visit, most of them good. Today was looking up.

The first thing wrong was that the Gun Sniper was red, Harry spotted that as soon as he got outside the hangar and finished catching his breath, and the woman who was walking toward him now was definitely not Leena.

"Uh... Naomi, right?" Harry guessed as he straightened, shifting awkwardly as she reached him. Without thinking he held the manila folder containing his latest plan in front of him, as if it could save him from the embarrassment of a near-stranger witnessing his mad dash.

"Yep, that's right," Naomi replied with a friendly smile. Her eyes drifted down to the folder and the visible label on it. Her smile dropped, and she snatched it out of his hands before he could blink.

"H-hey! Give that back!" Harry's face went red with embarrassment as he tried to grab it and missed when Naomi side-stepped him. "Don't read that!"

Naomi opened the folder and gave it a quick perusal, her expression dead serious as she held Harry at bay with one arm. Once done, she sighed and snapped the folder shut, then looked up at him. "If you wanna win a girl's heart, this isn't the way you do it."

Harry stopped struggling and stared at her. "It's not?"

"Nope," Naomi said with a shake of her head. She gave the folder back to him. "Sorry about dropping in like this, I'm just here to give you some advice."

"Like, about Leena?" Harry asked hopefully as he straightened, the folder clutched in both hands. Naomi had a boyfriend, after all; as a woman in love she had to know what she was talking about when it came to this stuff. Maybe a little womanly perspective was just what he needed.

"Mhmm. Let's go have a seat, this might take a little while."

"Oh, sure." Harry turned and gestured toward the hangar entrance, still feeling outright bewildered by this sudden turn of events. "Right this way."

They seated themselves in the hangar's little lounge space. Harry had taken a spot on the couch with Naomi across the way in one of the armchairs, and he was already leaning forward with anticipation. "So, what's your advice?"

Naomi sized him up, then braced her elbows against her knees, interlaced her fingers, and rested her chin on them. "How well do you listen to Leena, Harry?"

"Oh, I listen all the time! Like when she asks for me to buy her presents, and flowers, and—"

"You don't."

"I—What?" Harry stared at her in plain confusion. "Yes I do! I—"

"Did she ever say 'yes'?"

"She did!"

"That must have been quite the special occasion. Can you tell me about it?"

Harry opened his mouth to reply, only to find that his memory was coming up dry for the supposed scenario. "She did, I—" Harry stopped himself short and looked down at the rug as he thought about it more. Leena had taken gifts when she felt like it, sure, and she'd used other guys to get a rise out of him on occasion, but had she ever once said 'yes'? "When we first met, she—" No, that wasn't right either. She'd been flattered by his compliments, but she'd never said 'yes' back then either. "I mean, she... I don't, I don't know..." he trailed off, fidgeting by running his hands through his hair as if that would somehow clear the fog that seemed to fill his head.

"From what I understand she's been directly and indirectly rejecting your advances for a long time, Harry. The absence of a 'no' does not count as a 'yes'. Did you just turn your ears off every time she opened her mouth?"

Harry had no reply. He wracked his brain for the incidents Naomi had pointed out, and they started to pop up in alarmingly large numbers.

"Women don't trust or respect a man who can't accept a rejection, or who barges on ahead without bothering to wait for a 'yes'," Naomi continued when it was clear that Harry had nothing to say. "It's very rude for you to disregard that, not to mention creepy. If you want any sort of chance with her, you have to show her that you're listening by accepting that she's said 'no'."

"I—" Any new reply he tried to form got swept up in the rush of panicked thoughts that swamped him, his expression growing more and more stricken with every passing moment. He struggled to grasp something that wouldn't mean he'd messed up so many times in his pursuits. "It's not... Playing hard to get?" he managed as he looked up at her, his voice strained from the sudden tightness in his chest.

"No, Harry. A woman telling you 'no' is not playing hard to get," Naomi replied, her expression still kept carefully neutral. "I really don't understand where you got the idea that this is okay, especially with how Leena and everyone else react whenever you try to woo her."

"I thought they were jealous," Harry replied, his voice sounding smaller and smaller in his own ears.

Naomi sighed. "Brad's only been interested in me and doesn't care for Leena at all, on top of being too old for her; Jamie's too young for her, Bit has _zero _interest in any romance whatsoever, and her dad had better be out of the question."

"That's..." Harry trailed off and covered his face with his hands, trying to hide the red-hot humiliation that colored it. He'd screwed up. He'd screwed up bigtime, over and over and over. He'd been out there making a fool of himself for _months_. No wonder nothing worked. Harry took his hands away from his face and let them hang between his knees. "So what do I do now?"

"Leave her be. She gave you her answer already, repeatedly. Focus more on friends right now." Naomi looked around the hangar, spotting Benjamin and Sebastian across the way but no one else. "Seems pretty lonely out here, maybe plain old friendship is what you need more than romance." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"Wait, should I try to be friends with Leena, or...?" Harry looked up at her, the blush still apparent despite his face feeling a little cooler now.

"Give her a break until _she _decides to approach you, though you're probably free to make friends with other Blitz Team members. Just don't be doing that with the intent of winning Leena over," Naomi replied. "Make friends just for the sake of having friends, that's what you should do."

"Oh..." Harry looked up at the ceiling as his embarrassment faded a bit more. He looked down again, at a loss. "But how do I do that?"

That question caught Naomi off-guard. "Excuse m—? How do you make friends? I don't follow."

"I didn't have any kids around that were my age growing up... My sister's four years older than me and we didn't really see eye to eye a lot of the time," Harry admitted, focusing on the big of rug to his left rather than look Naomi in the eye. "It's kind of why my grandpa made Benjamin and Sebastian for me."

"Good grief...!" Naomi said, letting her head fall behind her hands. "No wonder!" She chuckled, then lifted her head with a small smile. "Well, guess naivete is better than entitlement."

"Huh?" Harry looked up at her, at a loss for what she meant.

"It's like you're not as much a genuine creep as just... Ignorant," Naomi replied, letting her hands fall to her lap and leaning back in the chair.

"Oh..." Harry wasn't sure if he should take this as an insult or not. He wanted to give Naomi the benefit of the doubt considering how much she'd enlightened him, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure. "Is that good...?"

"It's a much better outlook than being a genuine scumbag, that's for sure," Naomi replied with a small chuckle. "It means you'll have an easier time changing, and more opportunities for a better social life."

Harry relaxed a little upon hearing that. At least it wasn't bad. "But how do I do that? I've gotta be doing something wrong, right?"

"Well the Blitz Team doesn't seem to hate you, at least," Naomi replied, tapping her chin with one finger as she considered it. "Try asking them about themselves, show interest in who they are and what they enjoy doing with their free time. If they get interested in you too then there's an opportunity to start a friendship there."

"Okay." Harry felt a little more confident now that he'd been given concrete instructions, though the embarrassment over realizing how... _Stupid _he'd been acting still lingered. A lot. And now the sheer gravity of his screwups was hitting him again. "Uuuugh, I can't believe I did that!" He fell back on the couch and let his head hang over its back, covering his face with both hands again. "Idiot!"

That got a chuckle out of Naomi. "Boy, do I know that feeling. You don't have to beat yourself up too much as long as you do better."

"I guess..." Harry lifted his head and sat forward. "How do you know so much about this stuff?" he asked earnestly.

"I've traveled around a lot, learned a lot from my family, but even without that, meeting new people can really help make you a better person," Naomi replied with a kind smile. "It's a lot about perspective, I think."

"Perspective, huh?" Harry's head drooped, and he let out a long sigh. "Guess I have a long way to go."

"You've made progress today already. Just give it time."

"Yeah, I guess..." Harry lifted his head again. "So... Should I throw out my romance collection, then? That's where I was getting ideas from."

"Depends. Let's take a look," Naomi said as she got to her feet.

Harry led her out of the hangar and across the way to the building that contained most of the actual living areas for his base. The library was a bit of a ways in, lights snapping on as they entered each room and hallway and off again as they left.

"You're here all by yourself, Harry?" Naomi asked, the thread of pity clear in her voice.

"I have Benjamin and Sebastian with me," Harry replied, a little too defensively. "But as far as other people... It's just me."

"I see."

They arrived in the library. It was a large two-story room with two sets of windows taking up most of the opposite wall, giving the library plenty of natural light throughout most of the day. Balconies on either side of the room granted access to the shelves on the second story and stretched across the window wall, giving those with an eye for the view an ideal place to settle in and read. The deep red carpet looked barely a week old, this room had so seldom been used; it was Benjamin and Sebastian who put in the most foot traffic on it when they gave it the occasional vacuuming and dusting. Various reading nooks comprised of easy chairs and couches were spread throughout, all of them glaringly vacant to Harry now.

"Over here." Harry led Naomi to their right, to one of the few sets of shelves that Harry actually frequented.

"Alright, let's see what we've got here." Naomi selected a book at random and read the back. Her expression soured just a sentence or two into the synopsis.

"It's that bad?!"

"Take a look yourself." Naomi handed the book to him.

Harry read the back and found the problem almost immediately. "He ignored her rejection and kept going after her..."

"Got it in one," Naomi said with a nod. "It's easier to spot now that you're aware of it, huh?"

"Grrr, _stupid book_!" Harry drop kicked it into the center of the room, feeling thoroughly betrayed. "No wonder nothing worked!"

Naomi burst out laughing at the display. "That's one way of dealing with it. I like your style, kid." She put a hand on his shoulder. "I can write down some author recommendations if you want to revamp your collection."

"Please!" Harry said, turning back to the shelves. "I have a feeling there are gonna be some really big gaps to fill."

Before Harry knew it the recommendation list was in his hand and Naomi was on her way. The isolation that he'd been so oblivious to before pressed down on him like a massive weight, undeniable and impossible to ignore. Naomi had given him a lot to think about.

* * *

**A/N: Big thanks to Sir-Phobos-Boa for kicking ideas back and forth with me for the series as a whole and for giving this chapter a read! 3**


	3. Drifters (Season Prelude)

The police had asked Bit to stay in the small town of Darren Gorge while they tracked down the remnants of the bandit group that had attacked him the other day. He appreciated the protection, but he had to admit that he was bored just hanging around town like this. Hopefully they'd find the last few soon and he could get moving again.

He passed most of the time in the travelers' hangar, a humble though spacious building constructed from steel beams and ribbed metal sheets that visitors to Darren Gorge were welcome to use for free, providing they were buying services in town. This would be a good opportunity to make sure Liger's joints were clean and his stabilizers in good working order—the journey had involved a lot of footwork on Liger's part so far, and Bit needed to keep him in top condition if they were going to finish the trip.

There was the whine of a set of small boosters whizzing past the back of Bit's head, and something landed on top of the leg he was working on with a metallic _clunk_, prompting a surprised grumble from Liger. Bit climbed up to get a look, peeking over the top of Liger's leg to see what it was. Metal feet. _Metal dinosaur feet. _Zoid feet? _Small Zoid feet. _But the only Zoids small enough to fit that description _and _that had boosters were...

Bit looked the rest of the way up and found a silvery grey Organoid staring down at him. A pair of sweeping horns crowned its head with a smaller central horn in the middle, with a pair of inquisitive purple eyes peering out from beneath prominent brow ridges. Its hands were surprisingly well-developed for a theropod-type, sporting three fingers and a thumb with four toes per foot to match. It let out a metallic coo and gave him a look that had to be a smile—as close as a metal face could get to one, at least.

"An Organoid?!" Bit was so shocked that his grip on Liger's leg armor slipped and he began to fall. He threw out a hand to catch himself, but failed to find an adequate hand-hold as his fingers slid across a flat plane of Liger's armor.

The Organoid yelped with surprise as it lunged forward and grabbed his nearest arm with both of its hands, stopping his fall. It shifted its feet to steady itself, Bit swaying gently over empty space as it did so, then lifted him up with a great deal of care and set him down on the top of Liger's leg. Bit noticed that it was almost twice his height now that he was standing next to it, though he had no idea whether or not that was average for an Organoid just from the scant rumors he'd heard.

Liger turned his head to growl at it, having noticed Bit's near fall and who was responsible.

"Kara, what did I say about surprising people?" someone called from below. "Most of them haven't seen an Organoid before, you can't just pop up on them like that!"

The Organoid—Kara, from the fact that it responded to the name—returned a call that sounded very reminiscent of the word "sorry" and gave Bit a friendly wave before hopping down to the ground.

"Sorry about that!" The man who'd scolded her called up to Bit. He was tall with long white hair tied back in a ponytail, and dressed in a deep purple trench coat with grey pants and plain leather boots. "She gets really excited when she sees a rare Zoid, it's hard to keep track of her sometimes!"

Even now Kara was trotting around to Liger's front, hopping to and fro in front of him in a bid to get his attention once she found an easily-visible position. Liger looked down at her, then lowered his head to see what the fuss was about. Kara bumped noses with him and put her small clawed hands on either side of his snout, clearly delighted to get a closer look at him.

Bit climbed down Liger's leg as quickly as possible without falling off and met the man on the floor. "No harm done," he said, doing his best to play it cool. He could only keep it up for a few seconds before the flood of questions started. "I've never seen an Organoid before! Where did you find her? In ancient ruins? Is it true that Organoids can make Zoids way stronger and _can I pet her?_"

Kara's handler let out a hearty laugh. "She's alright with a handshake as an introduction, but you'll have to ask her about the petting part." He offered his own hand in greeting. "The name's Victor, by the way. Victor Geist."

"My name's Bit Cloud, nice to meet you!" Bit returned the handshake with a wide smile, looking Victor in the eye as he did so—his eyes were a shade of dark red, a fairly rare color even with the variety found on Zi. "Wow, this is so cool! Everyone's gonna be so jealous when I tell 'em I saw an Organoid!" He peered behind Victor on a whim and spotted a Gustav with a Konig Wolf perched on one of its trailers. There was a dual-barrel sniper rifle on the Konig Wolf's back, which got the wheels in Bit's mind turning.

"Oh, you've noticed Phantom," Victor said as he released Bit's hand. "He's my partner along with Kara. And that there," he gestured to the Gustav, "is Rover."

"Huh..." Bit turned to Victor. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about a bandit attack the other day, would you?"

Victor kept his expression blank for a few moments, then cracked a smile and shrugged. "Well you caught me. I was in the area and spotted you being harassed by that group, so I decided to step in. Couldn't let the Liger Zero be separated from his pilot."

"You know us?"

"How could I not after that final battle in the Royal Cup? It would be more of a surprise if someone _didn't _know." Victor paused as a thought occurred to him. "Well, as far as fellow Zoid pilots go, anyway, not everyone is a Zoid enthusiast."

"Man, that's a first. I'm not used to normal people on the street being able to recognize me." He wasn't sure how he felt about that, since the confines of the competitive ranks felt much smaller when it came to things like this.

"Have you considered your personal security with that being the case? It's bound to make you more of a target among bandits and other undesirables, as you've already seen."

Bit sighed. "I wasn't really prepared to be that recognizable," he admitted. The bandits _had _hailed him by name when they first attacked and had a good idea of his skill as a pilot, now that he thought of it. "But what am I supposed to do about that? Just go back home?"

"Not necessarily. Having a few extra pairs of eyes around will always help."

"So you mean... Like you?"

"If I may nominate myself, yes? Kara will help too, of course."

"But how do I know _you're _not some kind of bandit?" Bit gave him a smirk, though he was certainly feeling a little wary now.

Victor laughed. "Good, you're at least being more cautious." He took a slim metal case from an inner coat pocket and opened it for Bit to see, revealing a Zoid Battle Commission identification card.

Bit reached for it and got no resistance as he took it from Victor. It looked real enough, and the picture was spot-on; if it was fake then it was a convincing one. "Fake ID?" He guessed as he passed it back.

"We can head down to the local Zoid Battle Commission office to get it verified, or the police station," Victor replied, his smile showing a hint of pride as he tucked the ID away again. "Whichever you prefer. Or both if you need."

"Well I've got time, let's take a look."

One trip to the local ZBC office later, followed by a visit to the police station, and Victor Geist had been verified twice over and was apparently known well enough among ZBC employees that they recognized him on sight. Kara tagged along, bobbing her head with excitement while she rode on Liger's back—the streets here were wide enough to accommodate Zoid traffic—and then following them into each office. She was recognized by those among the ZBC as well, and she returned greetings as if she'd met the people there before.

"So what's a big guy like you doing in a place like this?" Bit asked once they were back in the hangar.

"The Zoid Battle Commission is concerned for the safety of one of the few confirmed Ultimate-X Zoids and his pilot, given that you've been roaming alone. So they sent me to act as a bodyguard of sorts," Victor replied. "Plus I'm sure your Liger would appreciate being able to ride rather than walk," he added.

"You said it," Bit said, smiling. "Y'hear that, Liger? No more walking!" he called over his shoulder.

Liger roared his approval and walked over to inspect Rover and the trailers.

"So, you got any destinations in mind or are you just drifting?" Bit asked, turning his attention to Victor again.

"My orders are just to escort you wherever you go, not to alter the itinerary much," Victor replied, resting his left hand on his hip. "Though I will absolutely speak up if you decide you want to go somewhere with a lot of bandit or other illegal activity."

"Fine by me." Bit turned to watch Liger move around to the other side of Rover in his inspection, Kara trailing along behind him. "Why's she so adamant about Liger anyway? Is she always like this with a new Zoid?"

"She does get excited when we meet new Zoids, but usually not to this degree," Victor replied, turning to watch the two as well. "Organoids are rare and we've only met one other so far. Given the way she's been addressing Liger Zero, it's likely because Liger's Organoid System _feels _like a fellow Organoid to her."

"Wow, really? That's awesome! And... Kinda sad actually." Bit frowned, turning to Victor. "There's only two? Haven't you been looking for more?"

"Off and on, though that's more our archaeological division's territory," Victor replied, his gaze lifted to the ceiling and looking saddened himself. "Mrs. Flyheight keeps me updated, though. She's a brilliant archaeologist, so if anyone's going to find them it's her," he added, turning to look at Bit again.

"Man..." Bit had to admit that knowing how few Organoids there were was a bit of a buzzkill, like learning that your new favorite animal was almost extinct. "So you're sure that Liger feels like another Organoid to her? Does that mean there's an Organoid in his core, or...?"

"Well, we can ask her to confirm the first part for you." He turned and cupped a hand to his mouth. "Hey Kara! Does he feel familiar to you?"

Kara replied with a series of roars punctuated by a chirp or click here and there. She seemed to have quite a lot to say about Liger Zero even after such a short amount of time with him.

"Interesting," Victor mused as he listened to her. "He does feel a lot like a fellow Organoid to her but _not quite_. It's not like an Organoid fused with a Zoid core since she's sensing only one consciousness; Liger Zero's voice is the only one she's picking up when he talks to her, despite her making multiple ping attempts on any possibly-present Organoid."

"You can understand her?" Bit asked, staring at him in plain amazement.

Victor looked to Bit and raised his eyebrows. "You can understand Liger Zero, can you not?"

"Okay fair," Bit admitted with a chuckle. "Sorry about all the questions, it's just that we've never met anyone who knows much about Ultimate-X Zoids before. There's a lot I wanna know."

"In good time," Victor said, looking back to Kara again. "You've got several months to chat my ear off after all, if you choose to make your vacation that long."

"I guess so." Bit chuckled. He'd never considered himself to be a chatterbox before, but with someone like Victor around that might change. "Any suggestions on where we should go next?" he asked, kicking a heel against the rough concrete floor.

"You mean you don't know?" Victor asked, genuinely surprised.

"I was kinda planning to just drift along, see where the wind takes me, y'know?" Bit gave him a somewhat guilty grin, then looked away to hide his embarrassment at the lack of forethought. "I didn't really have any particular destination in mind."

Victor gave a long laugh. "Well I suppose that's one way of finding adventure. I do have a few suggestions if you'd like to hear them."

* * *

**A/N: Big thanks to Sir-Phobos-Boa for kicking ideas back and forth with me for the series as a whole and for giving this chapter a read!**


	4. Chow and Chatter (Season Prelude)

Three days passed without a single call from Harry, which had Leena suspicious. She was so used to having to constantly deflect his calls that the sudden absence felt strange, though she had to admit the peace and quiet was nice. Maybe he was planning some stupid new scheme, that would be just like him...

The base's main phone rang and she looked at the number. Speak of the devil, it seemed he couldn't keep up the silent treatment anymore. Might as well get it over with.

Leena picked up the phone. "What do you want, Harry?"

There was a short stretch of silence on the other end before Harry spoke. "Oh, Leena... Is Naomi around? I wanted to talk to her."

"Naomi...?" Leena was genuinely confused by that request—normally Harry would be declaring his undying love for her by now. "What's this all about?"

"Well, I wanted to ask her if she'd like to have lunch somewhere, to thank her for coming by to chat the other day..." Harry replied, sounding uncommonly timid for someone like him.

"So what, you're trying to make me jealous now? You do know that Naomi's too old for you, right?"

"What? No! That's not what I—" Harry paused to think. "C-can Brad come too? He's not busy, right?"

That response left Leena utterly bewildered, to the point that she had to take the phone away from her ear to stare at it for a few moments. She put it to her ear again. "You know you're not supposed to invite the guy whose girlfriend you're trying to steal," she said flatly.

"I'm not! I promise!" Harry cried, his voice starting to get frantic on the other end. "Can you _please _just find Naomi for me?"

"Sure." Leena put the phone down on the counter and walked away.

* * *

After the third minute of silence, Harry put his free hand over his face and fell back onto his bed with a groan. Of course he would get Leena on the first day he called. He'd known she would probably act aloof toward him the next time they talked, he just hadn't expected it to happen so soon and it still hurt for her to act that way toward him. That, and the sudden realization that this wasn't a new tone or attitude she was using with him at all; it was one he'd experienced too many times before and was only now grasping what she actually meant by it. Painful, but it was progress at least. Not that the knowledge of it made him feel much better right now.

Either way, it seemed he would have to find a different means of contacting Naomi. Going over there in person and finding her would probably be his best bet at this point. Harry was just taking the phone away from his ear when he heard activity on the other end.

"Whuh? Doc, I wish you wouldn't leave the phone off the cradle! The handheld's gonna run out of power if you do that!"

There was a distant _"I didn't do it!" _and the sound of the phone being lifted off the counter.

Harry shot up to a seated position. "Jamie!" Harry shouted in the hopes that Jamie's ears would be sharp enough to hear him when he picked up the phone. "Hey! Jamie!"

"Oh, it's you," Jamie said, already fresh out of patience judging by his tone. Harry was really on a roll today. "I'm not handing you off to Leena."

"I don't want to talk to Leena I just want to ask Naomi and Brad if they'd like to have lunch somewhere and it's on me so could you please just let me talk to them?!" Harry said, a little faster and louder than he meant to, but he was desperate. Things had been even lonelier on base now that Naomi had drawn attention to it; he felt like he would explode if he wasn't able to talk to another person face to face soon.

"...Okay say that again, but slower and quieter."

"Naomi visited the other day and gave me some advice, so I'd like to repay her by buying lunch for her. Brad can come too, if he wants," Harry said, finally feeling like he was getting somewhere.

"Huh. Well, okay, I think she's around here somewhere."

"Thank you!" Harry said, flopping back on the bed with relief.

There was the muffled sound of Jamie's palm covering the mouthpiece while he searched for Naomi for a few minutes, but Harry didn't mind the wait now. He'd successfully gotten over the first obstacle and it was only a matter of time before Jamie found her.

"—he wanted to talk to you about grabbing lunch?"

"Thanks Jamie, I'll take it from here." The phone changed hands again, and now Naomi was on the line. "Hey Harry, how's it going?"

"Hi Naomi, I wanted to say thank you for the other day and ask if you and Brad would like to have lunch somewhere?" Harry sat up again, feeling more relaxed now that it was Naomi he was talking to.

"I wouldn't mind something like that today," Naomi replied. "It's early enough that we can still make it to town by lunch hour if we hurry."

"Really? That would be perfect! Do you guys wanna swing by my base to grab faster Zoids, or should I come pick you up with my Whale King?" Bringing the Whale King around for such a short trip wasn't normally something he'd do, but at this point he didn't care.

"Faster Zoids, huh? Depends, what Zoids are we lookin' at?"

"I have some Sinkers that should work, if you're okay with those."

"Sinkers? It's been a while since I piloted one, should be fun."

"Great! So I'll see you guys soon?"

"As soon as we can. I'll grab Brad and head out."

"Thanks, Naomi! See you then!" Harry waited for Naomi to hang up, then did the same. He walked over to the hardwood desk he kept in his room and put the phone back on its receiver, then rested his hands on the desktop and let out a long sigh; a mere phone call had become more of an ordeal than he'd ever expected, but at least it was done. Now to get the Sinkers ready and let Benjamin and Sebastian know what was going on.

Harry found his robot companions in the hangar, where they were doing a checkup on their Zoid collection. While it wasn't as large as it had been prior to the Champ Team's loss to the Backdraft Group several months ago, it was substantial enough in number that diagnostics could take a while. They'd been at it since morning as far as he knew, but hopefully the Sinkers had been seen to already and were clear for use.

"Your Dark Horn is ready for use if you're planning on taking it out," Sebastian said before Harry could speak. "Just try not to plow through any sand dunes this time? It was such a hassle cleaning its joints out."

Harry hesitated, then cleared his throat. "Thank you, but I'll need the Sinkers instead," he replied with as much confidence as he could muster—even though he thought he was on good terms with Naomi he still didn't feel sure, and Brad was even more of a wild card in that respect. "I'll be going out to lunch with some friends," he added, his voice nearly cracking from nerves.

"Lunch with friends?" Benjamin paused the diagnostics and turned to face Harry, then suddenly leaped over so that he was right in his face, making Harry jump back. "Harry! You didn't tell us you'd actually made friends! You should've said something!"

"Tell us who it is!" Sebastian added as he wheeled over. "Oh! I bet it's Naomi, isn't it? She seemed to have a good head on her shoulders from what I overheard the other day."

"Y-you guys aren't upset or anything?" Harry asked, still a tad worried. The pair had been created to keep him company after all, he'd wondered more than once if they might object to being "replaced".

Benjamin and Sebastian looked at each other briefly, then back to Harry.

"We've been wanting you to make some human friends ever since we came out here," Sebastian replied matter-of-factly.

"We do like being your friends, Harry, but we know that we can't give you the type of companionship that another human would," Benjamin added, a slightly mournful tone to his metallic voice as he shook his head. "Actually, we'd been hoping you would make friends with the Blitz Team from the start since they were our neighbors and had members that were around your age, but ah..." He didn't need to finish the sentence given what had been distracting Harry for literal months ever since they first encountered the Blitz Team. There was a lot of time to make up for.

Harry grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't have to remind me," he mumbled, his face flushing briefly from embarrassment.

"Anyway, we're so happy to hear that you're making friends now!" Benjamin bounced a little in his excitement. "You have to tell us all about how it goes when you get back!"

"Who's coming to visit other than Naomi?" Sebastian asked, the unsaid statement of 'I hope it's not Leena' hovering in the air between them.

Harry relaxed, feeling relieved that Benjamin and Sebastian approved; they'd been very critical of his attempts to woo Leena plenty of times before, it was nice to have them cheering for him now. "It's Brad, I thought he might want to come along since Naomi's his girlfriend and all."

"Good idea, Harry. That should head off any of that pesky drama before it even gets a chance to start," Sebastian said. He paused to consider something. "You know, I bet he has a lot of interesting stories since he's a mercenary, you should ask him about it."

"We'll get those Sinkers ready on the double! Leave it to us!" Benjamin added with a bouncy salute.

That left Harry with little to do as he waited for Naomi and Brad to arrive. He dithered on whether he wanted to bother with his pilot regalia for a while, then decided against it since the outfit tended to be cumbersome in a normal setting. They weren't going to do any battling or fancy piloting anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to just wear his normal clothes.

The three gold-painted Sinkers—now tuned for stability in particular, which made them better-suited for recreational use than for battle—were parked in the middle of the main hangar by the time Naomi and Brad arrived. Benjamin and Sebastian directed the red Gun Sniper and the Shadow Fox into the hangar, where the Zoids would be kept while the group was away.

Harry waved at them, a sudden pang of nervousness hitting him now that they were here. Hopefully lunch would go better than the brief conversation with Leena had, he had to admit he was still stinging from that.

The two Zoids lowered their heads and opened the canopies to their cockpits, allowing Naomi and Brad to hop out with little effort. They had chosen to stay in normal clothes, as Harry had, and he breathed a silent sigh of relief knowing he wouldn't feel under-dressed for the occasion.

"Hey Naomi, hey Brad," Harry called, his voice sounding awkward to his own ears as the pair sauntered over. "You ready to head out?"

"Ready when you are," Brad said nonchalantly as he and Naomi reached them.

"I'm looking forward to this," Naomi added with a warm smile.

"We'll hold down the fort until you get back," Sebastian said as he and Benjamin wheeled over to them.

"Your Zoids are in good hands!" Benjamin added, giving them a double thumbs-up. "We can even do a tune-up on them while you're away if you want!"

"We appreciate it, but you don't have to," Naomi said. "There's no need to sweeten the deal like that," she added, giving Benjamin a knowing wink.

"But if you've got the time..." Brad added with a small smile. "We wouldn't mind if you did."

"Brad!" Naomi gave him a nudge.

"What? I said _if they have time_," Brad said with a half-shrug. "I don't _expect _them to do it unless they want to."

Benjamin and Sebastian followed the trio of Sinkers out of the hangar and waved goodbye as they hovered away; Naomi was at the front from what they could gather, leading the other two toward the town of Desero. The pair of them watched until the Sinkers disappeared into the heat shimmers of the desert, then turned to go back inside.

"Do you think Harry's gonna do alright? He hasn't had a lot of practice with the social stuff before this," Benjamin said as they entered the hangar.

"Naomi is understanding enough, and Brad seems to be pretty laid-back from what I recall," Sebastian replied.

They came to a stop where the Shadow Fox and red Gun Sniper stood and looked up at the pair of Zoids.

"All of our high-priority Zoids have been seen to." Benjamin began. "Should we... Maybe put a thank you gift in the cockpits once we finish the tune-up on these two?"

"That's probably a good idea..." Sebastian admitted, looking down at the floor.

* * *

Harry was nervous throughout most of the trip, and he settled for listening to the chatter between Naomi and Brad rather than speaking much himself. Things loosened up when Brad and Naomi started playing leapfrog with their Sinkers, something that got a smile out of Harry—he hadn't realized the two of them were capable of being playful, they seemed so cool and serious most of the time. He didn't join in, not wanting to disrupt their little dance, and instead kept pace alongside them as he watched.

The game ended once the town of Desero appeared on the horizon. It was smaller than the city they usually got their Zoids serviced at, difficult to pick out against the flat rocky landscape it was built on, but it was the closest town to both their bases and had also managed to put itself on the map as an ideal place to find specialty shopping and restaurants. Darryll Park in particular was one of their most well-known venues, boasting a wide variety of shops built around a verdant park area and regarded as one of the most romantic spots to visit for miles around. They would have to consider renting a car if they chose a restaurant that was too far in to walk, since Sinkers and other similar and bigger-sized Zoids were not allowed to use its streets.

They arrived at the field reserved for Zoid parking and chose a place where they would all be able to leave the Sinkers next to each other, then hopped out and walked over to the little welcome kiosk that told visiting pilots about what the town had to offer in the way of food and shopping.

"So what kind of food do you guys feel like having?" Harry asked as they peered at the map through the shade of the kiosk's overhang.

"It would be fun to try something different this time..." Naomi said as she read through the list of restaurants. "Let's see if there's anything interesting we can walk to."

"There's a Thai place I've been to once before that was good, should be close by." Brad leaned in, searching the lower half of the restaurant list. "It's kinda tucked away, but real popular with the townsfolk. Supposed to be pretty authentic." He traced a finger below the restaurant's name—Thai Treasure—to find the block it corresponded with, then looked at the map again. "Hey, close enough that we can walk to it," Brad said, tapping the restaurant's location on the map. He leaned back again and looked to Naomi. "Should we go?"

"I haven't had Thai food in a while," Naomi replied. She looked to Harry. "Sound good?"

"Yeah. I don't think I've tried that kind of food before," Harry said. "Let's go!"

They found Thai Treasure in a courtyard at the center of its block, its doorway looking out onto the planter with its flowering trees and the entrance itself shaded by the second story walkway just above. A small bell above the door let out a cheery jingle as the three of them entered, and they paused for a moment to appreciate the cool air after the walk. The restaurant interior was comprised of pristine white walls and ceiling with the support pillars painted in gold; a striking effect, but not enough to count as gaudy. Vibrant paintings of sweeping temple architecture and verdant jungle vistas adorned the walls, each with a small plaque of information beneath it.

An older woman hurried over to them. She was dressed in a long embroidered coat of varying shades of blue over a loose blouse and billowing pants of matching colors, and her black-streaked gray hair was held back in a tight bun. "Welcome! Will you be eating in with us today?" she asked, giving them a welcoming smile.

"Yep, that's right," Naomi replied, giving her a smile in turn.

"I'll find you a table if you'll just follow me," the woman said, gesturing toward the main dining area. "The three of you together, right?"

"Yeah, and just one bill, I'll take care of it," Harry said, raising a hand.

There were fair number of other people enjoying lunch in the restaurant already, and the woman found a properly-sized table for them in less-occupied portion of the room.

"Your server will be with you shortly, and I'll check back in on occasion to see how you're doing," the woman said with a friendly nod, her smile revealing the crow's foot wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. She left them, moving around the room to see to the other diners.

Naomi watched her for a while, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Probably the owner, but I know I've seen her somewhere..." she muttered to herself.

Their waitress arrived with their menus and filled the water glasses that were already on the table. She looked so much like the older woman who'd greeted them that she had to be the owner's daughter, probably learning the trade under her mother's tutelage. "Any drinks?" she asked, tablet at the ready.

"You guys should try the Thai iced tea," Brad said. "I had it last time I was here."

The three of them ordered Thai iced teas and settled in to examine the menu. Harry found himself feeling a little overwhelmed with the unfamiliar names and the variety present, since he couldn't remember trying any of these dishes before.

"Having trouble?" Brad asked, having noticed Harry's expression.

"Yeah," Harry admitted, feeling embarrassed.

"Ya like peanuts?"

The question caught Harry a little off-guard. "Yeah?"

"Try the pad Thai then, it's a good intro dish."

"Oh." Harry looked through the menu again while Brad looked on, eventually finding it. The dish was made up of rice noodles, chicken, shrimp, peanuts, and bean sprouts, among other things; peanuts and shrimp sounded like a weird combination, but Harry was willing to try it. "Okay, I'll have that."

"I think I'll have pad Thai too," Naomi added, closing her menu. "Haven't had it in a long while." Her eyes drifted down to the back of the menu and the little story snippet printed on it. Naomi gasped. "I knew I recognized her!" she declared with an excited grin. "That's Malee "Flo" Rungaroon, she was a _legend _in Zoid battles about fifteen years ago. My mom's been a huge fan of hers for as long as I can remember."

Brad and Harry checked the backs of their menus as well, finding a short piece on Malee followed by information about the restaurant itself:

_Known as "Flo the Gryphon" to her friends and rivals, Malee Rungaroon was a major player in the competitive battle circuit from Seasons 27 to 35. She was widely regarded as the lone Battle Cougar ace, and remained so until a recreational accident brought her career to a premature end._

_Though she was able to walk again after months of recovery, extensive damage to her back meant that Malee could not risk another accident in battle and so she was forced to give up her life as a Zoid warrior. Rather than give in to despair, Malee instead chose to return to her roots and research her Thai heritage. It was no easy feat, as a great deal of the cultural information stored on the cryoships that brought humans to Zi has since been lost due to conflict and the destruction of key databases throughout. Yet Malee, with the help of the Two Worlds Many Cultures Foundation, was able to discover and consolidate what information remained about Thailand's culture, including iconography, language, religion, and cuisine. Wanting to share her passion for her ancestors' homeland on Earth with as many people as possible, Malee decided to open this restaurant, Thai Treasure._

_Since opening its doors, Thai Treasure has received many rewards for food and service, and continues to set the standard for cultural restaurants the world over. Malee herself continues to oversee the restaurant and has written multiple books on the subject of cultural recovery and reclamation of lost heritage. These books and offerings from other prominent members of the Two Worlds Many Cultures Foundation can be purchased at the register._

"Wow, awesome," Harry said.

"To think someone like that's been hidden away in a little town like this for all these years," Brad added as he laid the menu down again.

Naomi chuckled. "You ate here before, didn't you?"

"I don't usually read the stuff on the back of the menu," Brad admitted with a shrug, looking a tad annoyed at being called out like this. "I'm just here for the food."

The waitress returned with their round of Thai ice tea, and the three of them ordered their food: pad Thai for Naomi and Harry, while Brad decided to try the red curry.

Harry lifted his glass to look at the smokey brown contents. The tea was topped with some sort of cream, and Harry was just wondering if he was supposed to stir it or not when Brad began mixing his with the straw it came with. Harry did the same, then gave it a taste once the tea's color was uniform. It was an explosion of flavor, smokey, spiced, and sweet all at once. The intensity caught him off-guard, but not in a bad way.

"This is fantastic," Naomi said as she set her glass on the table. "I might have a new favorite drink after today."

"It's as good as I remember," Brad added, with a satisfied smile. "And it'll be even better once our food gets here."

"So what've you guys been up to now that the season's over?" Harry asked, looking up at them.

"We haven't been doing much since the Battle Commission can't give us many fair matchups with us being Class S now," Brad replied. "Doc's going nuts having to work off a fixed income like this."

"Yeah, guess teaming up with me or Leon wouldn't fix that," Naomi added. "You'd probably need a Class B warrior or two to balance things out—" she stopped, having realized what she just said, and both she and Brad looked at Harry.

"Might have to look into that," Brad said.

"Really?" Harry asked, surprised.

"You're not scheduled for any battles, are you?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I'm not financially dependent on Zoid battles, so with things the way they are my team's basically on the bench until the Battle Commission gets their satellite fleet fixed up."

Brad lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "So it's not just us, huh? They must really be hurting if they're dialing back operations _that _much."

"It's not just that, they're probably working on rounding up the rest of the Backdraft Group right now. That'll take a lot of resources," Naomi added. She took a sip of her tea. "Good riddance. Only regret is that the Battle Commission didn't take them out earlier."

Harry grimaced and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Yeah, I wish. Maybe the Backdraft wouldn't've gotten my first Zoid collection if that happened. It took forever to find a mercenary that was willing to win my Dark Horn back." He realized Naomi and Brad were watching him again. "What?"

"I didn't realize you lost to the Backdraft, when did that happen?" Brad asked, looking genuinely surprised.

"That was, you know, my sister showed up? I switched to the Iron Kong for a while?"

"_That's _why you switched to the Iron Kong? I thought you were just trying to stack your chances with a better Zoid."

Harry started to go red from embarrassment; he really shouldn't have brought this up, it was still absolutely humiliating to remember. "No, I switched cause I lost all my Zoids. _Mary _was the one who bought the Iron Kongs afterwards. She went for the most expensive Zoids cause she thought she'd win that way."

"How many Zoids did you lose to them, Harry?" Naomi asked, looking concerned.

Brad started to take a sip of his tea, his attention wandering to one of the paintings across the room.

"Well it was, uh... I'd have to check my records to get the exact number," Harry began, his face and ears positively _burning_. "But it was probably around... Forty to fifty Zoids?"

There was a small fountain of tea and a very undignified noise as Brad exhaled into his straw. He put the glass down and started to drag a napkin over the mess—luckily he'd been over the table when the spill happened. "Harry, that's an entire platoon!" Brad said once his words returned to him.

Harry put both hands over his face and groaned. "I know! Can we talk about something else?" he begged, his voice muffled by his palms. "I shouldn't've brought it up."

Naomi coughed. "Sorry. Makes sense that would be a touchy subject."

Brad sat back in his chair, tea in hand. "So who was the mercenary that won it back?"

Naomi shot him a glare.

"It's professional interest, and it's not about him losing specifically," Brad said defensively. "Plus it must've felt great to win a Zoid _back _from them."

Harry lowered his hands as his blush started to fade and rested his forearms on the tabletop. "It was Jack Cisco. He still owed me a favor, so I asked him to help me win my Dark Horn back."

"Makes sense," Brad said with a nod. "He must've felt pretty confident to go and risk his own Zoid like that."

"So you got to take part in the battle too?" Naomi asked.

Harry shook his head. "No, he actually turned me down the first time I asked him, then got back to me once he joined the Lightning Team." His fingers curled into fists as he glared at the table before him. "The Backdraft used my Dark Horn to fight them, it was totally trashed by the end of the battle. Hate that stupid visor guy, I bet he did that on purpose!"

"You ran into him too?" Naomi cut in. "That guy tried to take my Gun Sniper!"

"Visor guy...?" Brad paused, eyebrows drawn together as he sorted through the mental list of Backdraft warriors they'd fought before. "Oh, _that_guy. He came after us a bunch of times too. Don't think I've ever seen him fight without cheating, imagine being that terrible of a pilot."

Harry pressed his lips together, and he looked away; cheating hadn't been required to beat him during the battle he lost to the Backdraft, as far as he knew.

"He relies so heavily on gimmicks that he can't win on an even playing field," Naomi added with a scowl. "Was always pretty fun watching him get thrashed when someone evened the odds," added with a wicked smirk.

"You said it. He even kidnapped Leena the first time he made us fight him."

"Wait, really?" Harry said, his eyes going wide with shock; he couldn't imagine someone as tough as _Leena _getting kidnapped. "What happened?"

"He cheated and he still lost," Brad replied with a big smirk. "Also Leena thrashed him during the ransom call, which was pretty funny in hindsight."

Harry laughed at the absurdity of it, he had no doubt that Leena had destroyed the guy. "Did you get to watch, or...?"

"I wish. He had time to put us on hold before she laid into him, but he looked _real _beat up when he got back." Brad chuckled. "He was probably glad that we won in the end just so he wouldn't have to deal with her anymore."

"Finally Leena puts her brutality to good use." Naomi paused to take a sip of her tea. "Bet that guy's looking at the inside of a jail cell right now," she added with a smug smile. "Good riddance."

"I hope so," Harry added, crossing his arms over his chest. "Serves him right."

"So Harry, why're you so attached to that Dark Horn, anyway?" Brad asked, his tone earnest. "It's not like they're super rare these days, you could've just customized another one with the amount of money you've got."

"It's because my Great Uncle Karl gave it to me," Harry replied, smiling at the recollection. "It's actually pretty old since it was one of the Zoids he used to pilot back when he was still part of the Imperial Army, so I couldn't just let a bunch of thieves keep it."

"Must've been decent rank, they didn't give those to regular soldiers very often," Brad mused.

"He was a Major back when he piloted the Dark Horn, but he eventually got promoted to Commander."

"Wait, do you mean... Karl Schubaltz is your great uncle?" Naomi asked, looking surprised.

"Yep!" Harry replied. "Thomas Schubaltz is my grandfather on my mom's side."

"Huh." Brad said as he and Naomi looked at each other, then back to Harry. "Karl Schubaltz was first-generation Class S, wasn't he?" Brad asked, resting his chin in one hand.

Naomi nodded. "Pretty sure. He was one of the pilots who got Class S by default when the Zoid Battle Commission first started out. Thomas Schubaltz started in Class A, if I remember right."

"To think Harry had that kind of family legacy all this time, never would've guessed," Brad said, taking another sip of his tea.

Harry didn't know how to take that. On the one hand it was nice for Brad to be impressed about something relating to him, but on the other it suggested that Harry wasn't living up to expectations. He decided to let it slide and tried to think of a subject that would turn the conversation in a different direction. "So what's Bit been up to?" Harry blurted out as the thought came to him.

"Still on his vacation," Brad replied with a shrug. "Been about a week now since he left, but he never gave a set date that he'd be back at base. We're just assuming he'll make it back right before the start of the season."

"He's only called back once and Leena was the one who picked up," Naomi added, frowning. "Apparently she was in a bad mood because he hung up without really telling her anything."

"Oh, that's too bad," Harry said, looking down at the table. He had to admit that he still had feelings for Leena, but now that he'd put distance between them he was starting to realize that she wasn't all that great of a person. "He didn't even say where he was going?"

"Nah, he didn't mention anything to us, at least. Probably just drifting the way he did before he met us," Brad replied.

"He should be checking in more often, then." Naomi sat back in her chair a little and rested her hands on the table, one on top of the other. "Who's to say he won't get into trouble out there by himself?"

"Seemed to do alright before," Brad said, unconcerned.

"That was without a rare Zoid, though. That'll paint a big target on his back when it comes to thieves."

Brad frowned, and he set his glass back down on the table. "You've got a point there," he admitted. "There's probably more than a few that would take a shot at him if given the chance." Brad sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Doc'll probably make us go out and drag Bit back to base once he figures that out. What a pain."

Talk turned to more mundane matters: the weather, various interesting rumors that Brad and Naomi had heard from their far-flung friends. Harry finally remembered to ask Brad if he had any stories from his days before joining the Blitz Team—something he _wished _he'd remembered to bring up earlier instead of what they'd talked about instead—and Brad told them a story that got Harry laughing so hard he almost fell out of his chair.

Their food arrived, and chatter died down as they thanked the waitress for bringing it. A round of refills for the Thai ice tea was ordered—since they had all drained their glasses before the food arrived—and the table fell silent as the three of them tried their dishes.

Despite his initial misgivings about peanuts being used in a main dish, Harry found that they blended perfectly with the rest of the flavors on top of adding a nice crunch. The next round of tea arrived, and as Brad had said earlier it really did complement the flavors of the dish.

Harry heard a sniffle and looked up to find Brad's eyes were watering as he ate. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Brad sniffed. "Just spicy is all," he replied, taking another bite.

"You could've ordered it mild," Naomi said with a chuckle.

"I like it this way," Brad said, taking another defiant bite of curry.

"How are we all doing over here?"

They looked up to find that Flo had returned, as promised.

Brad gave her a thumbs up since his mouth was still full, his eyes watering again.

"I love it," Harry declared.

"It's fantastic, but there's something I wanna ask," Naomi replied with a smile as she stood. "You're Flo the Gryphon, aren't you?"

Flo's smile took on a tired tilt. "Yes, that's right. You look a little young to be a fan of mine, though."

"Ah, that would be my mom," Naomi said, looking a little embarrassed. "She used to drop everything to watch you live."

"It's been a long time since I last piloted a Zoid, let alone seen combat," Flo said, a little forlornly. "I do miss it, sometimes."

"Still, it's an honor to meet such a skilled veteran," Brad said as he stood as well.

Harry stood too, if only to follow Naomi and Brad's example. "It's really amazing," he began.

Flo sighed. "Yes, yes, top of my game, only to be taken out by a hiking accident."

"Oh. No, that's not, well, yeah your piloting was amazing, but I meant all this," Harry gestured toward the room around them. "All the information on this was lost, and then you went and found it like some detective, or a treasure hunter. I think _that's _really amazing."

"A treasure hunter? What a charming way to put it." Flo chuckled, and her expression warmed considerably. "I'm glad you think so. It helped keep me going through the hard times. Are you interested in going into the cultural recovery field yourself?"

"Oh, no, I'm not sure I'd be good at that," Harry replied with an apologetic smile. "But I'd still like to read your books about it."

"How about I autograph them for you? My treat."

"Really? That'd be great!" Harry looked to Naomi and Brad. "What about you guys? Do you want copies too?"

Naomi smiled and shook her head. "I don't want to impose too much. You're already buying lunch, after all."

"We're fine," Brad added.

"Well okay," Harry said, looking a little troubled; he certainly didn't mind buying a few books for the pair on the side. He returned his full attention to Flo. "One of each of your books please, and any others from the Cultures Foundation that you have here."

Flo blinked with surprise. "Are you sure? That's over a dozen books without including mine."

"Yeah!" Harry said proudly. "I'm trying to read more than just romance, and this sounds really interesting."

"I'll get them all prepared while you finish up, then," Flo said with a chuckle. "Who will I be making these out to?"

"Harry Champ."

That surprised Flo again, and she opened her mouth to say something before stopping herself and shaking her head with a smile. "They'll be ready for you once you're done."

Flo left them after exchanging a few more pleasantries, and the three of them sat down again.

"Guess you got a little starstruck for a minute there," Brad said with an amused smile.

Naomi sighed, blushing slightly. "Yeah, I made her uncomfortable, didn't I? It's not every day that I get to meet the woman my mom idolized for so many years." She smiled and sat back in her chair. "But luckily Harry came to the rescue."

"Wh— Me?" Harry asked, pointing at himself with surprise.

"You realized what she's actually passionate about these days," Brad said. "Must be hard to be reminded of what she lost when she was injured."

Naomi gave a humorless chuckle. "Yeah, pretty sure I'd feel the same way if that ever happened to me."

They returned their attention to their plates, and their Thai iced teas were refilled once again. Talk continued even after the plates were cleared, this time with Naomi telling a few tales from her days as a solo pilot. Desserts were ordered, consisting of vibrantly-flavored mango sticky rice and coconut ice cream. The final round of Thai iced tea was finished off, and Harry asked for the bill.

The bill for the books was included as well. Harry glanced over them, wrote the tip amount at the bottom of the food bill, and took them up to the register. "Here you go," he said, handing them over along with his credit card.

Flo was behind the register at the moment, and she accepted them with a smile and started to process the payment, stopping when she looked at the bottom of the food bill. "Are you sure this is the right tip amount?" she asked, showing it to Harry again.

"Oh, yeah. I felt like we got a little loud at times and we've been here a while, so I wanted to make up for the trouble," Harry replied with an apologetic smile.

"Very well," Flo said, smiling with a soundless laugh. She handed Harry's card back to him along with the receipt once she was finished, then hefted a canvas bag filled with books onto the counter. "Your books are all ready to go, I've signed all the ones I authored. Thank you again for picking them up, I'd love to hear what you think of them when you visit again."

The three waved goodbye to Flo once they reached the door, then stepped out into the warm air of midafternoon.

Harry fell into step beside Naomi and Brad, both straps of the canvas bag slung over one shoulder.

"Oh! Just a second, I almost forgot something!" Naomi said. She whirled and hurried back into the restaurant, leaving Brad and Harry to wait under one of the planter trees.

Brad looked as mystified as Harry felt, since Naomi hadn't been carrying anything with her that could be forgotten as far as they knew.

When Naomi returned she was carrying one of Flo's books in her hands, a satisfied smile on her face. "I think my mom'll be real interested in what Mrs. Rungaroon has been up to lately," she said as she reached them.

* * *

"So how was it, Harry?" Benjamin asked once Naomi and Brad's Zoids were no longer visible in the distance.

Harry coughed, his throat feeling a little dry; he couldn't remember the last time he'd chatted with someone for so long, and his voice was feeling the strain. "It was fun," he replied with a smile, still watching the horizon. "I had a good time."

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Naomi asked over comm as she and Brad made the trip back to Toros Base in their own Zoids. There was an odd rattling noise coming from just behind her seat that hadn't been there before; it was starting to get on her nerves despite her trying to ignore it.

"He's not a bad guy, now that Leena isn't the only thing he cares about," Brad admitted with a shrug. "Wouldn't mind visiting every once in a while."

Naomi sighed. She couldn't take the noise anymore. "Hang on," she said, and she stopped her Gun Sniper to have a look. Naomi unbuckled herself and half-rose from her seat, twisting to get a look at what was behind it.

"You find it?" Brad asked as he watched her via comms.

There was a box of some sort that she didn't recall putting there herself. "Got it." Naomi picked it up and plunked back down in her seat to get a better look. The box itself was made of plastic and decently heavy, with a small note taped to the top that read: _"Thanks for coming to visit! We really appreciate it!" _At the bottom of the note were caricatures of Benjamin and Sebastian, which was apparently their playful means of signing the message. She opened the box and found that it was stuffed full of a variety of different cookies, all of them looking and smelling like they were baked just that afternoon.

"Hey, I got one too," Brad said as he sat back down in his seat. He glanced at the note, then opened the box to see what was inside.

The two of them stared at the contents for a few moments of shared silence.

Brad sighed. "Poor kid. Never realized he was that lonely before."

"Think we should swing by again tomorrow?"

"Not like we have anything else to do back at Toros Base," Brad replied with a shrug. "It'll be nice to get out more often anyway."

* * *

**A/N:** Big thank you to Sir-Phobos-Boa for beta reading this for me! 3


	5. Molga (Season Prelude)

Bit noticed Victor doing it again, picking up a handful of dry soil and letting it spill through his fingers with a troubled look on his face. The land was sparse around here, starting to turn into desert, but Bit couldn't see what made it different from anywhere else they'd been. "Hey, Victor," he began as he walked over. "Something wrong?"

Victor remained silent as he allowed the rest of the soil to fall to the ground. "This place used to be more fertile, back when I saw it last," he replied finally, clapping his hands together to shake off the dust. "It's not the first place I've seen this kind of degradation either."

"Huh." Bit crouched down next to him to look at the soil as well. "How long ago was it?"

"Wish I could remember," Victor said, his brow wrinkling with frustration. "My personal memories only go about five years back." He reached out and plucked a dry blade of grass from a nearby patch, then discarded it after a brief examination. "I can't remember how far back it was or why I was here, just that this area used to look a lot different."

"Only five years? What happened?"

Victor shrugged. "Some sort of head trauma. I don't remember the incident myself."

It seemed Victor was reluctant to go into further detail, so Bit decided to drop the subject. His gaze wandered a few paces before them, and he noticed the telltale glint of something metallic poking out of the dirt. "Hey," Bit said as he leaned forward to pry the part out of the dirt. "Looks like a battle happened here." He brushed as much of the encrusted dirt away as he could with just his fingers and gave it a proper examination. "Pretty old," Bit noted as he turned the chunk of armor plating over in his hands. "Maybe from a Molga? Not something anyone would be interested in these days, anyway." He set the piece down on the ground; there was only so much room allotted to him in Rover's cargo compartment, and he would have to use it sparingly when it came to picking up sellable parts out on the road.

Victor picked up the part, to Bit's surprise. He examined it himself, then stood and checked the place Bit had pulled it from.

Kara appeared at Victor's elbow and the two seemed to share a silent exchange as they looked at one another.

Victor began to walk out to a nearby cluster of rocks, Kara easily keeping pace with him.

Bit watched them without a word and followed to see what they were up to.

On closer examination the rock cluster revealed itself to be the body of a petrified Molga, half-buried in the dirt and with a massive hole blasted into the far side of its main carapice. Bit leaned in for a closer look and found that the hole ran deep into the Molga's body; this was likely the blast that ended up killing it. A check around the front revealed that the head armor and cockpit canopy had been knocked askew, possibly when the pilot's comrades had to bail them out of the dying Zoid, though the blast had been big enough that the head being affected wasn't out of the question. Seeing Zoids in this state always dampened Bit's mood, and he frowned as he stepped away from the Molga and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Help me find other parts," Victor said as he walked around the Molga's head and tossed the piece of armor to the ground. "You're about to see something quite remarkable," he added, giving Bit a mysterious smile.

Bit blinked and raised an eyebrow in confusion, then smiled. "Well alright, I'll see what I can find," he said, cracking his knuckles.

Victor and Kara worked to dig the Molga out while Bit roved around the area looking for more of its pieces. He piled his haul around the place Victor had put the first piece of armor, coming back around to drop off parts once his arms were full.

Kara did most of her digging with her back legs, bracing her body against the Molga and kicking the dirt away or doing the same from a free-standing position. It was a quick but messy strategy—Bit got hit with dirt when he wandered past without paying attention, which got a laugh out of Victor.

There was a loud chortling roar from the place they'd left Rover and his two passengers; Liger Zero had seen the little mishap and was having a chuckle as well.

"You need to be more aware of your surroundings," Victor called as Bit brushed the dirt off himself. "It'll keep you from getting ambushed by bandits again, or hit with dirt when Kara's having fun."

"Yeah yeah," Bit grumbled, though he saw it as all in good fun. He continued on his search for parts, keeping an ear out for nearby activity all the while in case he got within range of Kara again.

Victor had succeeded in excavating the Molga's head by the time he had to stop. He sat down hard, one hand still on his shovel and the other clutching at his left thigh.

Kara was at his side within moments, voicing a worried coo as she checked and nudged him.

Bit hurried over as well, having been on the way back with another armful of parts when Victor sat down. "You okay?"

"Just a lingering work injury," Victor replied as he set the shovel aside. "It'll heal up, don't worry. It just needs time," he added upon seeing look on Bit's face.

"You want me to dig instead?" Bit offered, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the Molga.

"No need," Victor said with a shake of his head. "The head's dug out so it'll be able to free itself."

"Free... Itself?" Bit asked, totally mystified.

"You'll see."

Kara stepped forward, her wing-like boosters lifting as she began to glow. She roared, her body dissolving into a beam of light that arced up, then fell into the Molga.

"Whoa, you don't mean—" Bit began, but whatever else he had to say was lost to him as he watched the unfolding spectacle.

A translucent maelstrom of lavender light swirled around the Molga's corpse, the Zoid's normal color driving away the stone that had gripped its form for so many years. The parts pile was consumed by the storm of energy, each piece dissolving into light itself and being drawn inside.

Victor stood, a knowing smile on his face as he joined Bit. "Resurrection is easier when most of the parts are present," he said, taking one from the collection in Bit's arms and tossing it into the maelstrom; the part hit the light and was drawn inside, ready to become one with the Molga's body once again.

"That's amazing!" Bit said, grinning. He twisted, then heaved the entire armload of parts into the swirling light. They too were swept up and consumed.

Liger Zero joined them, pacing beyond the maelstrom to get a look at multiple angles. Bit could tell that he was curious.

There was a metallic _clack_, barely loud enough to be heard over the hum and roar of the swirling energy, and the Molga's canopy and head armor jerked into place. The hole in its carapace shrank and disappeared, the armor made whole and flawless as it had been at the Zoid's creation. With the Molga healed, the light faded and Kara departed the Zoid, landing next to them in a flash of purple light and letting out a triumphant roar.

There was a quiet hiss from the Molga, and its head twitched, shifting the dirt around it. Though the head was now free, the tail was still encased in dirt, which the Molga discovered when it tried to roll forward. It stopped and sat there a moment, the small pair of mandibles beneath the cockpit opening and closing as it processed its predicament and what to do about it. The Molga started to wriggle from side to side and arched its tail, gradually loosening the earth's hold on its body until it was finally able to pull itself free and roll up and out, shedding dust and loose pebbles as it moved.

"Wow, I never knew Molgas could be this lively before," Bit said as he took a step back to give the Molga room. "Welcome back, buddy!" he said, giving the Molga's head a congratulatory pat.

"It'll settle down eventually," Victor said as he brushed a bit of dirt off the Molga's head. "This tends to happen when Kara fuses with a Zoid, they get a little more independent for a while, though the change being semi-permanent isn't unheard of." He straightened and put his hands on his hips. "How about we get our new friend cleaned up? I'm sure all the dirt is quite uncomfortable."

They did the best they could without any water available, but the Molga seemed to enjoy it all just the same, even shifting and holding various poses that allowed Bit and Victor easier access to places beneath its body or between its armor plating. It was nearing sunset by the time they stopped, both of them very dusty and feeling the weight of the day's work. The Molga looked downright chipper, rocking side to side and clicking its mandibles as if accompanying a musical beat.

"Man, I hope it stays like this," Bit said, smiling as he watched the Molga do a circuit of their camp's perimeter. He and Victor were preparing dinner, which left the Molga free to do as it pleased. "Can Phantom move on his own too?" he asked as the thought came to him.

"He does, actually," Victor replied as he put a pair of cast iron skillets over the fire. "It's just in his nature to be quiet most of the time."

There was a yip from Phantom, who had apparently overheard them talking about him from his spot next to the trailers.

"Does that mean he'll act on his own in battle too?" Bit passed the bowl of vegetables and potatoes he'd just finished chopping over to Victor.

Victor took the bowl from him and shook his head. "He gives me full control during battle, it's just in unpiloted situations that he'll make decisions for himself." He dumped the veggies into the smaller skillet, stirring them with a wooden spoon that Kara handed to him and then setting it on a nearby plate.

"Huh." Bit stared at Phantom for a few moments, then looked back to Victor. "So it really is just Ultimate X Zoids that can help their pilots?"

"Well, and Organoids," Victor replied. He put their cut of beef into the larger skillet and watched it sizzle, using tongs to move it to the middle. "Regular Zoids will usually default to their pilot's command during a battle, unless there's no pilot present, of course." Victor sat back, easing himself down to a seated position. He smiled as a thought came to him. "With that being the case, care to test your skill in a Zoid that _doesn't _assist you?"

Bit laughed. "We don't really have any options, unless you want me in the Molga," he replied. "It's not really battle-ready, is it?"

"Oh no, putting you in an unprepared Zoid to start with wouldn't be fair at all," Victor said, absentmindedly twirling the tongs in one hand. "But there _is _a local competition going on in the next town on our route. We'll be taking our new friend to the local Battle Commission branch for registration—" he pointed to the Molga, which was now checking out Rover "—and we can work out renting one of their available Zoids for the competition."

"Is that fair?" Bit asked, surprised. "I'm Class S, not sure the other competitors would want me in there."

"You can hide your face and identity, this sort of thing isn't unheard of," Victor replied. "Top-class pilots have gone on solo journeys before, to test their skills on their own and to get away from team life for a while. The Battle Commission will negotiate things with the people running the competition, and you'll be at a disadvantage without your signature Zoid. That should help even the odds."

"Alright." Bit stared up at the emerging stars as he considered it. "I can't just sit around letting myself get rusty, sounds like a fun challenge," he added with a smile. "How about it, Liger? Think I should do it?" Bit looked to Liger, who had settled in just behind him.

Liger Zero roared his approval.

"Then count me in!" Bit said, grinning as he turned to Victor again.

"Excellent." Victor turned their meat over, then stirred their vegetables again. "We'll get you set up once we've dropped the Molga off."

* * *

Victor was just drifting off when his phone started to vibrate. It was standard issue for ZBC employees but not yet approved for public distribution, so the only calls he got on it were from his employer or from his associates. He sat up and started toward the divided tent's entrance; Bit had fallen asleep some time ago, so Victor did his best to be quiet as he left.

Kara lifted her head to watch him go, then settled herself again with a twitch of her tail.

He put on his coat and slid his feet into his boots without bothering to button them, then walked around to the other side of Rover's trailers to answer.

Phantom watched him from near the tent, then scanned the surrounding area for any potential threats. Upon finding none, he lowered his head again and dropped back into standby mode.

Victor checked the area himself out of habit, then looked at his phone screen. The call had been missed, but she would be waiting for him to call back no doubt.

"Hello, Victor. Have you made contact?" Reese asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yes, he's with me," Victor replied, standing up straighter even though Reese was nowhere near him. "Both he and the Liger are safe."

"Good. And your leg?"

"Still achy," Victor replied.

"Would it interfere with a little sniping work? You won't have to move much, I just need you to pin down a few human targets once we get them out of their Zoids."

Victor considered how much the injury had been hindering him lately; it wouldn't be an issue as long as he didn't use his legs much. "Tranq shots, or rubber bullets?"

"Excellent. Use tranq first, then go to rubber if they prove difficult, though I'm sure they won't give you much trouble in the end. They're demoralized and running scared, if they haven't crumbled before they get to you then you'll certainly be their last straw," Reese said; Victor could almost see the satisfied smile on her face in his mind's eye. "You still have a few days to prepare, I'll make sure the necessary equipment is waiting for you at the branch in your area."

"Right, I'll be there by tomorrow. I have a few other things to take care of once I arrive."

"Ooh? Do tell."

"We recovered a Molga that'll need registration, and Bit's interested in the competition this week."

Reese chuckled. "So you're going through with Van's suggestion, then? You know you don't need to, he doesn't have direct command over you."

"It would be unwise to discount what he said, though I don't need Commander Flyheight's input to know that training this one is a good idea," Victor said, closing his eyes. He sighed. "Either way, at least he can't claim that I'm slacking off right now. Any objections?"

"None at all," Reese replied smoothly. "I just find it amusing how you've taken a bit of a shine to this one."

Victor froze; he hadn't exactly given away any fondness for Bit during the call. "Have I?" he asked, wary that Reese might be playing her games again.

"Just the fact that you're willing to train him at all," Reese replied. "You balked at doing so with our own rookies."

"That's different," Victor replied, relaxing a little. He shifted his weight to his good leg. "They were too prone to seeing Zoids as mere tools, rather than creatures in their own right. Straighten them out and then we'll see," Victor added, lip curling with disgust.

There was a soft laugh from Reese. "I see. I wasn't aware that our initial educational programs were so lacking. I'll have to let the administrator know, since he was so offended that you refused to help."

"He was just as bad as they were," Victor said. "He's not going to listen."

"I can be very persuasive."

Victor noted the slight edge to her voice and decided not to debate it further. "So," he began, eyes panning the surrounding landscape yet again. "Any news of that orange Organoid?" The lingering wound in his leg seemed to twinge at the mention; the Organoid had done quite a number on him before Kara got the chance to intervene.

"No, unfortunately," Reese replied, all humor gone from her voice. "It vanished after your previous run-in with it, there have been no sightings since then." There was the faint sound of shifting fabric as she settled into a different position in her chair. "Have you noticed anything suspicious yourself?"

"Fortunately no. I just wanted to keep up to date on what was going on with the investigation."

"Very well. Just keep an eye out, we have no idea where that thing could be lurking."

"Understood." Victor put his free hand into his coat pocket to warm it up again; the area could be quite cold at night and his fingers were starting to feel it.

"Just one more thing," Reese added. "Raven has re-entered service and you'll probably remind him of someone he had a bad history with if you ever meet. Just keep that in mind if he's rude to you, it's nothing personal on his part."

"Oh, lovely," Victor said, laying on the sarcasm. "Just what I need, another superior making assumptions because of something I can't change. Fantastic."

"It is what it is, I just wanted to give you a bit of warning beforehand," Reese said, the humor having returned to her voice. "Anything else to report before I leave you?"

"No, nothing else," Victor replied. "It's all quiet for now."

"Excellent. Good night, Victor."

* * *

**A/N:** Big thanks to Sir-Phobos-Boa for beta reading! 3


	6. Checking In (Season Prelude)

Harry lounged in the sun, having flung himself across one of the couches on the second story window area of the library. Flo's first book was open before him, and he'd found that it was hard to put it down once he'd started reading it the night before. He'd learned about humanity's arrival on Zi from his history classes of course, but Flo's book offered a much more detailed and personal telling of what happened, all of it based on recordings and first-hand accounts discovered in long-forgotten archives. Two ships were destroyed as they came in to land—one due to errors made by the crew manning her and the other by damage sustained during interstellar travel—which resulted in an almost total loss of all passengers on board and all data stored on the ships. A third was lost when feral Zoids attacked it just after it landed, sparing the passengers and crew but destroying all data the ship contained. The seven remaining ships were able to land together on the Central Continent and successfully offload passengers and survival supplies, their hulls eventually becoming part of the growing settlement that would begin sending pioneers off to other parts of the globe.

It was downright riveting to say the least, despite the fact that Harry already knew most of the ultimate outcomes. He'd just reached the part about the group of pioneers that would eventually form the Guylos Empire when Benjamin called up to him from below.

"Someone on the phone for you, Harry!" Benjamin waved the handheld at him as Harry reluctantly peeked over the railing. "It's Bit!"

"Really?" Harry perked up; he'd been thinking it might be a call from his father, who would probably try to convince him to give up Zoid battling again. "Be right there!" He hurried over to the nearest spiral staircase and met Benjamin on the ground floor. "Hello?" he asked as he put the phone to his ear.

"Hey Harry, how's it goin'?"

It was actually nice to hear Bit's voice again, to Harry's surprise.

"It's going alright," Harry replied, smiling. "Just been reading, hung out with Naomi and Brad the other day, it was fun."

"Oh yeah? They with you now? No one was around when I called the base."

"I don't _think _so," Harry replied. "Benjamin and Sebastian would've told me if we had visitors."

"Huh, guess they're just out and about, then."

"So, why'd you call here, Bit?" Harry asked, taking a seat on a nearby easy chair.

"Oh... Is that a problem?"

"No," Harry said quickly. "That's not what I mean, just, I don't know if we were really friends?"

"Well I don't think you're a bad guy," Bit replied. "Just the whole Leena thing is really annoying—"

"I stopped doing that," Harry said before Bit could go further. "I haven't gone to see Leena in a few days."

There was a stretch of silence on the other end. "Huh. Well, that's good! Now you got more free time and Leena won't be able to use you anymore," Bit said brightly.

The bluntness of the statement sidelined Harry a little, and he blushed with embarrassment. "Y-yeah, Naomi came by a few days ago and we talked, so I'm not bothering Leena anymore," the last part ended in a mumble, it was hard to admit that he'd just been an annoyance to her all along.

Bit chuckled. "Man, that's a relief. I was kinda worried you'd get all weird at me over the Leena thing when I called, but I needed to contact someone who'd let the rest of the team know how I was doing."

"Oh," Harry said, feeling a little disappointed that Bit wasn't calling just to chat with him. "So how've you been? Naomi said you tried to call before but it didn't work out."

"Ugh, yeah," Bit grumbled. "Leena started lecturing me about taking responsibility and how I was abandoning my team, it's not like I'm gonna miss the start of our tour or skip out on training or anything. Besides, she doesn't even train that much so what's she getting on _my _case for?"

"You're still training on vacation?" Harry asked, a little surprised to hear that Bit was so on top of things.

"Enough to keep sharp at least," Bit replied, sounding proud of himself. "I'm gonna enter a competition with a different Zoid tomorrow, see how I do without Liger's help."

"Really? They allow that even though you're Class S?"

"We checked today and the Zoid Battle Commission said it would be alright as long I used a different Zoid," Bit replied.

"Tell me how it goes afterward, I'm sure you'll do great," Harry said. "So what're you doing today? Just prep?"

"Not _just _prep," Bit began, starting to get excited on the other end. "Okay so you won't believe this, but I met this guy from the Battle Commission and he has an Organoid!"

"Wait, _what_? No way."

"It's true!" Bit's voice became a little distant as he called to someone off-call: "Hey, Kara! Come over here and say hi!"

There was a bit of commotion in the background, then something with a very metallic voice did its best to mimic _"hello" _into the mouthpiece.

To anyone else it would've seemed like a prank, but Harry had met an Organoid once before; years ago, back when Grandpa Thomas still frequented Harry's childhood home, the Organoid Zeke had once tagged along with Van and Fiona for a visit. It had been absolutely magical meeting him, like something out of a fairy tale or myth, and it wasn't something Harry would easily forget. A sharp stab of jealousy struck him along with the realization. Bit was out having adventures with an Organoid of all things and here Harry was stuck at home without even a few battles to sharpen his skills with. Talk about disappointing.

"It really is," Harry said distantly. "How'd you guys even meet?"

"The Battle Commission sent her partner to be my bodyguard while I'm on vacation," Bit replied. "Just yesterday I got to watch Kara resurrect a Zoid! We're at the Battle Commission branch in the area to get it registered, sounds like we might end up selling it once that's done."

"So you guys brought it back just so you could sell it?" The idea sounded cold, even to Harry.

Bit paused. "Well when you put it like that..." he trailed off, the thought clearly bothering him. "It's not like we can keep it with us since we're traveling, and the Battle Commission gets first dibs anyway." Bit went quiet for a few seconds. "So what've you been reading about?"

Harry gave Bit an abridged version of what he'd read so far—and discovered that Bit had barely heard about any of it.

"So was your history teacher asleep during class or what?" Harry asked, half-joking. "I know it can be boring but come on."

"I never had a history teacher," Bit said, his voice level.

"Wait," Harry began, having picked up on the change in tone. "So you didn't go to school?"

"I can write and do math and all that stuff," Bit said defiantly. "History just wasn't as important."

"Oh..." Anxiety started to settle in, and Harry worried that he'd seriously insulted Bit. "We don't have to about it, if you want."

"No no, it's fine," Bit said quickly. "I don't mind. It's just, I'm not stupid 'cause I didn't go to an actual school," he said, the sentence trailing into a mumble at the end.

"I don't think that at all," Harry said. He'd really managed to step on a nerve with this, probably for the first time _ever _with Bit; it was a good thing he hadn't found out until now, he didn't trust his past self not to have been nasty about it while trying to win over Leena. "It's just surprising."

Bit chuckled. "So, I'm smart enough that you just assumed I had a flawless education, huh?"

Harry laughed, more from relief than anything else. "Don't get full of yourself, it'll get you in trouble."

The door to the library opened, catching Harry's attention, and Sebastian entered. "You've got some visitors, Harry," he said, moving aside to allow Naomi and Brad to walk past and into the library.

A full smile came to Harry's face, and he got up to greet the two. "Hey guys, how's it going?"

"Doin' alright," Brad replied.

"Who's the caller? Should we wait?" Naomi asked, gesturing to the phone in Harry's hand.

"Oh! Bit called," Harry said. He pressed the phone to his ear again. "Wanna talk to them on speaker, Bit?"

"Sure, sounds good," Bit replied.

"Why don't we head back to where the phone's dock is? That way you can talk as long as you like without running out the battery," Sebastian suggested.

They followed Sebastian to the kitchen, where Benjamin had answered the phone earlier. Benjamin was busy making cucumber and smoked salmon sandwiches and brewing tea, and he gave them a jolly wave as they walked in. The phone's dock was moved to the main table to the side of the kitchen itself, where the three of them would be able to sit in comfort while they chatted.

Bit filled Brad and Naomi in on the basics—he was safe, traveling with a bodyguard from the ZBC, that he'd be going into a Zoid competition the next day with a different Zoid. Benjamin put tea and sandwiches on the table while Bit talked, with the promise that pastries would soon follow. Harry realized that Bit was a tad more reluctant to tell Naomi and Brad about the Organoid than before, and Bit was then met by expressions of open disbelief when he finally _did _get around to it. Naomi and Brad still looked unconvinced even after Bit had Kara on the line again, though whether they thought Bit was mistaken or trying to prank them he couldn't be sure.

"Good to hear you're safe and keeping sharp, Bit," Brad said, leaning back in his chair. "Better not be rusty by the time you come back or Doc might end up pawning the Liger off."

"Don't joke about that!" Bit cried. "Besides, what've _you _been doing to train? You guys can't be lazy either."

"This and that," Brad replied, unfazed by Bit's attempt at criticism. "We'll be eligible for all local competitions now that we have someone to balance us out, and what you mentioned about using a different Zoid is givin' me some ideas."

"As long as Harry's up to it, of course," Naomi added. "Otherwise it'll be just solo competitions."

Harry looked at her, totally mystified.

"We were talking about it the other day, remember?" Naomi said, giving him a reassuring smile. "We asked the Battle Commission about it and they said we'd be able to do group competitions as long as you signed on with us."

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that," Harry admitted, giving them an apologetic smile. "I'm up for it, can't let myself get rusty either!"

"Looks like we're all getting set up for some good battles, then!" Bit said. "Should we check back with the results?"

"Sounds good to me," Naomi said. "I'm interested to hear how you do without Liger Zero, should be a good gauge of your raw skill."

"And you'll be reporting first since you're fighting tomorrow," Brad added. "Should be enlightening."

"Don't worry, I won't let you down," Bit said confidently. "Maybe I'll even get a trophy to bring back."

Talk continued for a while longer as Brad and Naomi filled Bit in on what was going on at Toros Base—not much, admittedly, but enough to bother keeping him up to date. Eventually Bit had to leave them to continue with battle preparations and hung up, leaving the three to discuss what they'd learned.

"Sounds like he's doing well," Naomi said with a relieved smile. "Glad the Battle Commission beat us to the punch and sent a bodyguard along. Never heard of that happening before."

"I bet it's because of the Liger," Brad said, pausing to take a sip of his tea. "The Battle Commission probably doesn't wanna lose track of it."

"It's that important?" Harry asked, his eyes widening with surprise.

Brad gave Harry an appraising stare, then blinked when he realized something. "Oh, you never heard about all of that, did you?" He put his teacup back on its saucer. "Liger Zero's a rare type of Zoid called an Ultimate X, they're special because they have something called an Organoid System that lets them learn and act on their own during battle. There's only two, as far as we know, with the Liger being one of them."

Harry sat back in his chair. "So Liger Zero is an Ultimate X, and now Bit's hanging around with an Organoid too? He's so lucky."

"You sure that was an actual Organoid though?" Brad asked, looking skeptical. "There's only four on the records: one's dead, another's missing, no one's seen the other two in a long time. It's probably just a heavily-modified Battlerover or something."

"No, it's real," Harry stated, playing with a lock of hair as he stared at the far end of the table. "_She's _real, I mean. I met Zeke when I was little, before he disappeared, so I remember what they sound like."

"Seriously?" Naomi stared at him, then smiled and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. "Actually that's not surprising given who your grandpa is, but which Organoid is Bit hanging around with, then?"

"It's not one of the known ones." Harry rested his hand on the table and looked up at them. "Her name's Kara, remember? You guys know the names of the others."

Brad picked up his teacup and swirled its contents. "Huh. Guess she stays on the down-low since she's not widely known, but it's nice to know that there's another one kicking around out there. It's depressing to think they might all be gone."

"The Zoid Battle Commission probably doesn't publicize her existence since that would be a big draw for shady organizations like the Backdraft," Naomi added. "Just look at how nuts they went over the Ultimate X. Imagine the lengths they would've gone to if they thought they had a chance at getting their hands on an Organoid."

"Good thing they're out of commission now," Brad said. "It's nice not having to worry about them randomly dropping in to ruin things."

"Either way, sounds like Bit's in good hands." Naomi selected another cucumber sandwich from the platter and put it on her plate. "An Organoid_and _an Ultimate X should be hard for even a swarm of bandits to beat."

"Almost makes me wish I'd tagged along for a while just to see." Brad took a sip of his tea. "Almost. Three's a crowd, though. I doubt Bit would've liked both of us following him around."

Naomi chuckled. "He probably would've thought we were trying to babysit him."

* * *

Harry sighed and laid his head down on the table. Naomi and Brad had lingered a while longer before heading home, and though he did enjoy playing host he wasn't used to how tiring it could be. "Man, socializing's hard," he mumbled, closing his eyes.

"That reminds me," Sebastian said as he passed. "I noticed that you've been lacking confidence lately, Harry. Are you feeling alright?"

"Confidence?" Harry didn't know what to make of the statement, but he _did _feel a lot more hesitant these days. He opened his eyes and stared at the far wall as he mulled it over. "I dunno... It's just that I've wasted so much time already, I don't wanna mess up again now that things are getting better."

"But you did very well today, Harry," Benjamin said as he put a cup of herbal tea on the table. "You chatted with Bit, and you hung out with Brad and Naomi." He chuckled. "You even talked so much that your voice is getting hoarse again."

"Yeah, second day this week," Harry said, smiling. He sat up and took a careful sip of the tea, just in case it was still too hot. "It's nice having people to talk to."

* * *

**A/N:** As always big thank you to Sir-Phobos-Boa for beta'ing and tossing in ideas!


	7. Expectations (Season Prelude)

Bit was excited when he woke up the next morning; they'd gotten everything in order the previous day, right down to the helmet he'd be wearing to hide his identity and the ZBC-issue pilot uniform. He'd picked out a Shield Liger as his substitute Zoid in order to at least stick with the same type. That, and he'd always wanted to try one. After growing up on stories about Van Flyheight and his companions, it was hard to pass up on piloting the same Zoid that the great hero had started his journey in.

A round of testing the previous day revealed that it was definitely slower and less agile than Liger Zero, but he was confident that he'd be able to work with those limits regardless. The two of them had defeated Vega and the Berserk Fury, after all; a bunch of unranked pilots would be easy for him to beat even without his partner. Bit even felt a little sorry for them, if he was being totally honest with himself. Practice was practice, though, and this would be just what he needed to sharpen his skills.

He rushed through breakfast despite Victor telling him to take it slow. It had been too long since the last battle, he realized, and he was itching to get back in the cockpit even though it wouldn't be Liger Zero he would be piloting.

Victor stopped Bit with a hand on his shoulder as he was on his way out. "So I understand that you told your friends about Kara yesterday?" he asked once he had Bit's full attention

Bit froze. "Is that bad?"

"Just don't go around telling people you don't know," Victor replied as he removed his hand. "We've been able to keep her mostly to rumors up to now, I'd like it to stay that way for at least a little while longer."

"Oh, sorry about that," Bit said, feeling guilty for not even thinking of it before. "Wait, how'd you even know about it? You didn't come back 'til after the call."

"Kara mentioned it," Victor replied. "She's very social, so she didn't think much of it when she said hello. The usual secrecy sort of gets to her, and this is actually her first trip out in the open. She must've been excited to hear from your friends. Just keep in mind that not everyone you tell will have good intentions for her."

Victor returned to what was left of his breakfast, and was then left behind while Bit went over to the Zoid Battle Commission hangar to check on the Zoid he would be using.

Liger Zero was waiting for him as well, since the ZBC had thought it wise to keep the group's Zoids in their compound for the sake of security; Bit couldn't complain, there would be no safer place for the two to be separated if Liger Zero was in the ZBC's hands. He greeted Bit with a loud roar and met him in front of the Shield Liger.

The armor on this Shield Liger was a muted blue-gray and the body underneath nearly black, with a smokey amber cockpit canopy that had armor reinforcements along the edges, which instantly set it apart from the standard Shield Liger even without special armaments. Its frame and command system were state of the art, but the rules of the coming contest required that only basic armaments and equipment be used in order to keep things fair for the lower-end contenders. The mechanics told Bit that this would likely work in his favor since this was his first time taking a Shield Liger into battle, as the units were notorious for becoming unruly if too many advanced armaments or modifications were added onto them. Bit didn't mind; he'd started out with Liger Zero's basic armaments, so it only made sense to do the same with the Shield Liger.

The sound of boots on the concrete floor caught Bit's attention and he turned expecting to see that Victor had joined him, only to find that it was a man he didn't immediately recognize. Stout and broad-shouldered, short brown hair, clean-shaven and well-dressed in a deep red suit, definitely not from the ZBC. It dawned on him that this was the guy running the contest he'd signed up for, though Bit hadn't had the chance to talk to him yet since the Battle Commission had handled all negotiations.

"Good morning," he said, giving Bit a grin and offering his hand. "We didn't get to properly meet yesterday. I'm Darian Doveau."

Bit shook his hand with a smile of his own. "Bit Cloud, nice to meet you."

"Excited for the competition?"

"Yeah, should be a blast!" Bit replied.

"I must say, I didn't expect a Class S pilot of all people to turn up for registration, but I appreciate the measures you've taken to make things more fair," Darian said as he released Bit's hand. He turned to look at the Shield Liger, then to Liger Zero. "I do admit though, I'm a little saddened that I won't be able to watch the magnificent Liger Zero fighting in person. You've made quite a reputation for yourselves with your performance in the Royal Cup."

"Yeah, Liger's pretty amazing," Bit said as he looked up at Liger Zero as well. "There'll be other battles, though. He's fine with me using a different Zoid for this one."

"How confident are you in winning?" Darian asked, looking to Bit again.

"Pretty confident," Bit replied without skipping a beat. "Liger's great but I'm no pushover either."

Darian chuckled. "Well don't stomp them too hard, I'd like the battle to be at least somewhat interesting," he said. "We've got to fill in while the Zoid Battle Commission is having its little content drought, after all." He paused as if remembering something, then took a business card from his breast pocket. "Speaking of which, if you ever tire of ranked battles then we could use someone with your expertise in rare Zoids at my company. We're always looking for skilled test pilots like you, give me a call if you're interested."

"Oh." Bit accepted the card and stared down at it for a few moments, genuinely surprised to get an employment offer of all things this morning. The word "ZeneTech" had been given the most prominence on the card, and Darian's contact information could be found in the bottom right corner. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind."

"Much obliged," Darian said, giving Bit a pat on the shoulder. "Well, I'd best be off then, last-minute preparations and all that."

"Yeah, see you later," Bit said distantly, still feeling a tad off-balance from the sudden job offer. He watched as Darian left the hangar, then looked down at the business card again.

Liger leaned in to get a look at the card as well, tiny though it was to him. A quiet rumble like distant thunder asked if Bit was alright, as Liger had noticed his unease.

"Just unexpected," Bit replied, still staring at the card. He looked up at the main hangar entrance and found it empty save for a few mechanics going about normal maintenance tasks. He couldn't help but wonder if this was going to become a trend as he put the card into his jacket pocket; he certainly wasn't used to anyone specifically wanting him, even with the Blitz Team it had started out as a grudging acceptance since he was the only person who could pilot Liger Zero. It would take getting used to.

"Something wrong?"

Bit jumped nearly a foot in the air upon hearing Victor's voice just behind him; he'd forgotten how quiet the man could be when he felt like it. "U-oh, nothing," Bit said as he recovered himself and turned to Victor—and Kara, who had also managed to sneak up on him. "The guy running the contest came by to talk, he offered me a job."

"Ah, Darian Doveau of ZeneTech, if I recall." Victor glanced at the hangar entrance, Kara mirroring his movement with a quiet growl. "Did he mention whether Liger Zero was a requirement for your employment?"

"No," Bit said, getting a sinking feeling. "You don't think he'd try to take Liger from me like that, do you?"

"Can't say, in his case I don't know him well enough," Victor replied with a shrug. "But it's something you need to keep in mind. Not every crook is going to look like some rough and tumble bandit or paramilitary general. Sometimes they look completely trustworthy and their true intent is only revealed in the fine print."

"Ah," Bit said, his mood souring. "Reminds me of the guy I work for."

"Oh?" Victor's full attention snapped to Bit. "You don't work for them anymore I hope?"

Bit bowed his head in embarrassment, unable to look Victor in the eye. "It's Dr. Toros, he owns the Blitz Team _and _Liger Zero, and I'm still not out of debt with him even after giving him most of my Royal Cup winnings. He won't even tell me how close I am to paying it off."

Victor cocked his head to one side, an innocent smile on his face. "Well then, maybe I'll have a little talk with him once we get back to your base," he said, though despite the smile there was a hard and definite edge to his voice.

"What? No, you don't have to—" Bit began as he looked up, only just realizing the trouble he might've made for the Blitz Team by mentioning it.

"Oh, but I insist," Victor said jovially, clapping a hand on Bit's shoulder. "Class S warriors are meant to be exemplars of society, and the same applies to their administrators by association. I just want to make sure everything's above-board before your S-Tour begins."

"He's gonna kick me off the team for this," Bit said, his face pale.

Victor merely chuckled. "Oh no, it would be team suicide if he were to do that! Only a fool would do such a thing!" he declared with a wide grin. "And don't worry, you won't be mentioned at all when I talk to him." Victor released Bit and stood back. "I'm merely a concerned representative of the Battle Commission doing his duty and making sure his charge is well looked after in the future," he added, putting a hand over his heart and putting on an innocent look. "He'll never know you said a word."

Bit let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Victor."

"Now," Victor said, turning toward the Shield Liger. "There's still time to get more practice in, why don't you take our friend for a few laps around the compound before we head out?"

* * *

Victor drove Bit to the staging area in a car borrowed from the Battle Commission. On the way there they passed a large fair on the edge of town, many of its attractions already in full swing; the coming battle royale was part of the event, and would be broadcast to everyone on the fairgrounds. Most of the contestants were already gathered at the staging area by the time they arrived, ready to listen to the stated rules and get a look at the competition. Victor would be the only one seeing him off here—Kara and Liger Zero remained in the ZBC hangar, since both of them would draw too much attention and Liger alone would be a huge hint about who the "mystery contestant" was. Regardless, the Battle Commission had been kind enough to set up a screen for them, which would allow them both to watch the battle as it happened.

Each contestant had already received a list of all rules, but for clarity's sake the Judge lent to the competition by the ZBC was repeating them aloud for everyone to hear. "All general rules of sanctioned battles apply: No aiming at the cockpit or Zoid core; No outside assistance is allowed; Interference from non-participants will result in the immediate cancellation of the battle and disqualification of any offending party. Contest rules are as follows: All contestants must proceed to the center of the battlefield once the battle begins, any contestants who delay or hold back will be disqualified; Forming alliances is prohibited and will result in immediate disqualification; All must engage in combat within fifteen seconds of reaching the active battle area. The first place winner will be the last contestant standing, with second and third place going to the second to last and third to last contestants to fall, respectively."

Bit fidgeted as he listened to the rules. The helmet worked fine and allowed him a full field of vision, but it was already starting to feel stuffy. The ZBC uniform was also heavier than what he was used to, a muted gray tunic and sturdy pants, both of fairly heavy fabric, and thick-soled black boots. Part of him would be glad to get out of them once the battle was over.

At last the time came for the contestants to get into their Zoids and make their way to their assigned starting points. Bit waved farewell to Victor and climbed into the Shield Liger's cockpit, ready and eager for battle.

The coordinates for his starting point appeared, and Bit took the Shield Liger over to it. One by one the other contestants left his range of view as they traveled to their own starting points; with a battlefield as big as this, most of them would never see each other until they reached the center.

Bit stopped the Shield Liger as the coordinates turned green on his main display. He was in position. Now to wait for the countdown and charge in as soon as it hit zero.

The wait was short, but agonizing. Bit swallowed and tightened his fingers around the control sticks as the countdown began at fifteen seconds.

10...

9...

Bit leaned forward, the straps of the safety harness tightening around his shoulders as he did so. He resettled his feet on the pedals beneath the main console, and the Shield Liger shifted slightly as if sensing his eagerness.

5...

4...

Almost there... The biggest threats would probably be the two Saber Tigers and the single Red Horn he'd seen when the contestants were gathered earlier. He'd have to watch out for them.

1...

The word "GO" flashed across the main screen in large green letters and was immediately replaced by the number fifteen, and Bit took off. They hurtled toward the center of the battlefield, guided by a small location pin on the canopy that marked their destination.

A large shadow passed over them as they drew parallel with the edge of a pine forest, and Bit's heart jumped. He looked up and spotted a green Pteras as it wheeled away on its circuit of the battlefield. Just one of the aerial monitors, but it certainly gave him a scare for a second there.

Bit opened up the missile pods as they came up on the center. They would be best used in the first few seconds, while he still had distance from most of the other combatants. His breathing seemed to echo inside the helmet as the last strip of forest peeled away and he burst onto the center.

The first opponent Bit spotted was the Red Horn as it lumbered in from the opposite direction. He fired off a full barrage of missiles—the quicker he took out the bigger threats the better.

The Red Horn noticed Bit a split second after he fired the missile barrage and returned fire with its back-mounted triple beam gun, shooting a few of the missiles down and forcing Bit to run in order to evade its fire. Most of the missiles struck home, connecting with the armor along the Red Horn's back and knocking out its forward cannon.

Another contender—a gray Command Wolf with a double-barrel beam cannon mounted on its back—leaped in and unloaded two shots into the Red Horn's side, bringing it down. That was one opponent out of the way.

14...

The Command Wolf turned its gun on Bit and began to fire, tracking the Shield Liger as it strafed around in a rough circle.

Bit withdrew the missile launchers and deployed the double-barrelled beam gun instead. He got a few shots in on the Wolf as he ran, blasting the ground around it but failing to land a hit—a bit of an embarrassing reminder that he still had to work on his aim.

He glanced to the front to check for obstacles, and found that there was a Molga very nearly under the Shield Liger's feet. They jumped at the last second, the Liger's back feet tagging the top of the Molga's carapace as they leaped over.

It was enough to unbalance the Molga, the strength of the impact causing it to rock from side to side. This provided ample opening for the Wolf to switch to it, giving Bit temporary respite from its assault.

One shot, two. A pair of missiles from the hidden compartment in the Molga's tail sailed into the sky just before the final blast tipped it onto its back, where it lay still.

Bit barely had time to get a few more shots in himself—all of them misses—before the battle with the Wolf picked up again. He was getting sick of dealing with this one but if he stopped moving to actually aim, the Wolf would be able to score multiple hits on him.

Well, there was one alternative to that.

Bit pulled the Liger around and activated its energy shield, charging at his opponent as it continued to fire on him.

Just before impact the Wolf leaped aside, avoiding a full blow but too slow to save its back legs from colliding with the energy shield. It staggered, struggling to straighten its damaged legs as it tried to move away from Bit. One of the missiles from the downed Molga connected with its rump, and it collapsed immediately after.

The second missile exploded across the top of the energy shield, and Bit turned it off before it could drain the reserves too much, grateful that he'd happened to have it up when the missile came back down. A quick scan of his surroundings revealed that the Red Horn, Molga, and Command Wolf weren't the only contestants who were out of the battle: a Helcat, a Godos, and a Cannon Tortoise had joined the ranks of the fallen while Bit was dealing with his little skirmish.

8...

Both Saber Tigers were still up, and one of them—flashy red with yellow accents and silver fangs and claws—had turned its attention on him. It surged in, leaping up for a claw strike as it came within range.

Bit smirked under the helmet and with a twitch of the controls the Shield Liger ducked left under the Saber's leaping claw strike—a move he'd picked up from Leon some time ago. This next part, however, was completely new. He brought the Liger's back legs up in a powerful horse-kick as his opponent came in to land, catching its back end with enough force to knock it off-balance.

The Saber landed hard as its front legs buckled under the unexpected burst of weight, its chest-mounted shock cannon gouging three large furrows into the ground and kicking up a spray of dirt. Its rump came up, and for a split second it looked like the Zoid would be tipped into a full-on somersault. The moment passed, the Saber's back end listing to the right until it fell to the ground with a loud crash. A twitch of the head once the fallout of the tumble had stilled, and the Saber began to labor to its feet.

Bit was just turning to finish it off when gunfire peppered the Shield Liger's right flank. He turned and found that a green Gun Sniper had decided to take advantage of his distraction.

The new contender hissed and opened the missile pods on its back as Bit turned to it, but any threat to the display was ruined when a Helcat jumped on it and knocked it to the ground.

That would be two for one, then.

Bit activated the energy shield and charged them.

The two were unable to disentangle themselves in time, and were both knocked flying as the shield slammed into them. The Helcat remained on the ground where it landed, electricity arcing over its body like brilliant blue snakes. The Gun Sniper tried to rise, only to be shot down by the Liger's back-mounted gun.

With those two out of the way, Bit turned to see what the red Saber Tiger was up to.

A Molga was tipped onto its back in front of the Saber. Either it was just unlucky, or it had tried to take advantage of the Saber's slow recovery and got thrashed for it. Either way, three more contestants down.

5...

Bit did a cursory check of the sky just to be sure; Molgas were small and somewhat flimsy but their missiles packed a nasty punch. Once satisfied that there wouldn't be any unpleasant surprises raining down on them, Bit started toward the Saber Tiger again.

The Saber turned to Bit and started forward at a walk. This time it opened with a few shots from its back-mounted cannon rather than going straight into melee, likely wary of getting the same treatment as before. The front legs weren't moving quite right, with a slight jitter whenever the knee joints had to support the Saber's weight; they'd obviously been damaged in the tumble, it wouldn't take much more to put the Zoid down for the count now.

Bit sidestepped the first few shots as he made his way forward, once to the right and then to the left, taking the last one to the right shoulder as he closed the gap. He lunged at the Saber, the Liger rearing up for a double-pawed strike.

The Saber panicked and tried to back out of range rather than attempt a dodge to the side. The elbow joints sparked briefly as it pushed off, but the jump was too weak to move itself out of the way in time.

With a roar the Shield Liger came down, both paws slamming into the Saber's shoulders.

The Saber Tiger's front legs held for only a split second before buckling under the weight, slamming its chest into the ground yet again. This time the Saber stayed down, electricity sparking from the joints on its front legs.

4...

Bit got the Shield Liger off the Saber's shoulders, only to stop short when a blast rocked the Liger's body and chunks of armor from its already-damaged shoulder fell away.

Another Saber Tiger—this one purple with black accents—stood to his right, already lining up another shot as he turned to it.

Bit activated the energy shield and brought the Liger completely around, preparing for another ramming charge.

This Saber Tiger was more canny than the other had been, however. It sidestepped the charge, back legs avoiding a glancing blow by mere centimeters, and whirled to take advantage of the Liger's unshielded back end.

Bit wrenched at the controls, straining to get the Shield Liger turned around in time. The damaged shoulder sparked and started to give, sending a shudder through the Zoid's body and slowing their progress. Bit clenched his teeth, he had to get his unprotected side out of range before—

Too late.

The Saber Tiger's shot hit the Shield Liger in the midsection, its pilot having aimed between the energy shield's fading edge and the Liger's well-armored rump.

There was an explosion that knocked both the missile pods and back-mounted gun offline. The energy shield flashed off as the Shield Liger stopped in its tracks. It remained standing for a few moments, lingering momentum slowly tipping it forward. Mere seconds seemed to crawl on for eternity, the Shield Liger's joints groaning as they continued to shift. Finally it lost any lingering balance and fell to the ground with a loud crash, defeated.

3.

Bit stared at the words 'COMMAND SYSTEM FREEZE' as they appeared on the center console, blotting out all other information on the screen.

Behind him, the purple Saber Tiger let out a victorious roar and plunged back into the fray.

One of the technicians appeared on the canopy screen as Bit sat there. "Please remain in the cockpit with safety harness secure until the conclusion of combat. We will notify you when it is safe to move around." She disappeared without waiting for a reply, leaving Bit alone with his thoughts.

He was... Numb. Bit slumped back against his chair and let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding since the shot connected. It echoed within the confines of his helmet, and he reached up to take it off. He hesitated as his fingers touched it.

No, better to keep it on. Save himself the embarrassment of being known. He had a reputation now, after all.

To think a newly-minted member of the prestigious Class S could lose to a bunch of unranked pilots. Absolutely humiliating.

There was a loud roar, and Bit turned his head to find the purple Saber Tiger standing triumphant over an Iguan and a Barigator. The first place winner had been decided.

The broadcast came in from the lead technician: "It is now safe to leave the cockpit. All contestants please remain near your Zoids while awaiting transport."

Bit didn't even bother to undo his harness, instead content to simply sit and stare at the span of canopy in front of him. What was he going to tell everyone back home? They would be expecting to hear about the competition results tomorrow if not today. Lying wouldn't be an option. What would they say? Would they kick him off the team right then and there? His pulse picked up the pace at the mere thought. He couldn't go back to drifting alone again after all that he'd been through with Liger and the team.

A loss against unranked pilots. But how? He'd beaten Vega, the boy called the "Uncrowned King", the best pilot the Backdraft had to offer. He'd won the Royal Cup. How could he lose in a _hobbyist competition _of all things just weeks after the most intense battle of his life?

The haze of unwanted thoughts cleared somewhat when someone knocked on the outside of the canopy, making him jump in his seat.

A man wearing a red and yellow jumpsuit grinned and waved at Bit when he looked up. He was middle aged, with a short-cropped businessman haircut and a few streaks of gray among otherwise deep black hair.

Bit glanced beyond him and found that the red Saber Tiger's cockpit was open and empty—so it was the first Saber pilot wanting to talk to him for some reason. With nothing else to do other than return to the stream of unpleasant thoughts and questions, Bit pressed the button to open the canopy and undid his safety harness.

The other pilot was beaming as the canopy lifted. "That was amazing! Best fight I've had in a while!" he declared with a sincere grin, putting a hand up for a high-five.

Bit obliged him, feeling a little off-balance from the man's raw enthusiasm. There was a quiet _clop _as their gloved palms came together.

"I've never seen a Shield Liger move like that! You know, that dodge when we first clashed? Where'd you learn that? Did someone teach you?"

"I kinda figured it out on my own," Bit replied with an unenthused shrug, his voice wobbling slightly. "Saw a Blade Liger pilot do it."

The man looked astounded by this reply. "You learned it just by watching someone? Incredible! How long have you been piloting a Zoid, anyway? I've never seen you in the hobby circuit before."

Bit had to pause and think about that one, looking down to count the months on his fingers. A full season for ranked Zoid battles was nine months long, and he'd joined the Blitz Team just three weeks after the last season had started. "Less than a year," he replied, looking up at the other pilot.

The other pilot whistled with admiration. "That's amazing! Have you considered—oh!" His smile took on an apologetic tilt as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, forgot my manners. The name's Alex Valorn," he said, offering his hand to shake this time.

For a split second Bit was about to blurt out his own name too, but humiliation stopped him in time for the reminder of secrecy to present itself. No telling contestants who he was, not that he'd want them to know at this point anyway. Bit hesitated with his hand half-raised, caught between courtesy and necessity.

Alex's smile started to dim. "Something wrong?"

Bit held a finger to the lower half of his helmet, roughly where his mouth would be.

"Oooh, I got ya," Alex said as the realization dawned on him. "Can't let the family find out about your hobby, eh?" He gave Bit a knowing wink. "I'll admit my wife wasn't so keen on it when I inherited my dad's Saber Tiger, but she warmed up to it eventually. Guess we should leave you as Mystery Warrior for now?"

"Yeah, that works," Bit said, grateful that the guy hadn't put up a fuss over not getting a name. He shook Alex's hand, still feeling dazed by the whole thing, especially so close on the heels of such an embarrassing loss.

Any further talk was interrupted as a pair of green Gustavs rolled up, each equipped with a loading crane and two empty trailers.

"Looks like I have to go back. It was nice meeting you!" Alex took a step back and dropped back down to the ground, giving Bit a wave once he landed.

Bit returned the wave, then watched as Alex jogged back to his Saber Tiger. He let himself fall back into his seat and stayed there for a few moments, then made himself get up—better to help clean up than to sit wallowing for now.

The mental haze came back despite the new distractions of helping the mechanics get the Shield Liger loaded onto the Gustav's trailers and finding the bigger pieces that had come off during the battle. Bit didn't talk much, only as much as necessary as he assisted the crew. They didn't mind his silence, though one of them commented on how nice it was to have a pilot that actually helped out with clean up for once.

If it wasn't his piloting skill that won the Royal Cup, then it had to be Liger Zero. And if he couldn't even beat a bunch of unranked pilots on his own...

The thought made his stomach twist.

Did Liger know? He had to. There was no way he didn't.

They finished quickly enough, packing up before the team assisting Alex with his Zoid was done. Bit hopped into one of the Gustav's back seats, looking up just in time to notice Alex waving at him. He returned a half-hearted wave of his own, then dropped back against the seat while the mechanics took them back to the staging area.

Bit was dropped off at the staging area while the mechanics continued on with the Shield Liger, bound for the temporary holding yard that the ZBC would then retrieve it from. Things were quiet and the crowd was light, allowing the faint sound of fairground music and the excited cries of those enjoying the attractions to drift in. He walked forward a few paces and looked around, not knowing what to do with himself now that all immediate tasks were taken care of.

Only two other contestants had returned at this point, including the first place winner with her Saber Tiger standing proud nearby. She was a teenager, perhaps a couple years younger than Bit himself, and she was barely able to contain her excitement as she talked with her parents. That made the defeat bite even more. With Vega the skill gap wasn't so surprising—the kid had been trained by the Backdraft from a young age, and had an innate knack for piloting Zoids on top of that—but this girl must've been another hobbyist like the rest.

A newly-minted Class S pilot, outplayed and shot down by an unranked kid. What a joke. He could hear Leena laughing at him already.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Bit."

He turned to find Victor standing behind him.

"I called your name three times. Something wrong?"

"Oh, hey, Victor," Bit said slowly. He swayed slightly as he stood there, still processing the question. "I dunno."

Victor grabbed Bit by the hand and pulled him upright, fearful that he just might fall over any second now. "Come on, let's get that helmet off." He turned and started to tow Bit back toward the parking lot.

Bit stumbled the first few steps, but eventually got his feet under control as they moved.

"Hey, wait up a minute!"

The two of them paused, and Victor turned toward the newcomer. He didn't let go of Bit, who swayed slightly from the sudden stop but stayed on his feet.

Alex hurried over to them, having just been dropped off by the crew who recovered his Zoid. "Hey, you're staying for the ceremony, right?" he asked after taking a moment to catch his breath.

"He's not feeling well," Victor replied before Bit could say anything. "I'm taking him somewhere quiet where he can recover."

"Oh..." Alex said, his shoulders drooping. "What about the fair? Will you be able to make that?" he looked to Bit, who was staring at the space of ground just in front of his feet.

Victor eyed Bit for a moment, then shrugged. "Who can say? It depends on how he's feeling later." That said, Victor turned and they started toward the car again.

"Hope you feel better soon," Alex said weakly, giving them a small wave as they left him behind.

The car ride came and went. Bit didn't quite register what happened during it or whether Victor said anything. It passed in silence as far as he knew, and too soon they were pulling up in front of the ZBC hangar.

He would have to face Liger Zero now, and he wasn't looking forward to it. Wasn't looking forward to admitting that Liger had anything less than a stellar pilot like he deserved. Admitting that they'd only gotten as far as they had because of him.

Bit was sluggish as he climbed out of the car. He walked into the hangar, just short of literally dragging his feet with how slow he was going.

Liger Zero and Kara already had their eyes on him, watching as he walked down the long expanse of floor. They were both silent, perhaps already aware that something was wrong.

Bit came to a halt in front of them and took the helmet off, gaze still downcast. "I lost." The hand holding the helmet swung limply to his side, bumping against his thigh as it stilled. "Sorry."

Liger rumbled a question, tilting his head to one side; he didn't understand what Bit had to be sorry about. Strangely, Liger's presence in Bit's head seemed weaker than usual, as if he was a ways off rather than standing in front of him.

"Give him time to sort himself out," Victor said, looking up at Liger Zero as he joined them. He turned to Bit. "It's one loss, this isn't the end of the world."

"But I'm Class S, I should've won!" Bit blinked, startled by the volume of his own voice. He took the helmet in both hands and stared at his own reflection in the visor. "I should've been good enough to win on my own."

Victor gently took the helmet from Bit's hands before he had a chance to drop it.

Bit's arms swung back to his sides, his face hot from humiliation. "It's like I'm just a human face for Liger to fight under."

"I'm sure Liger Zero disagrees with you on that," Victor said.

"How do _you _know?" Bit turned without waiting for a reply from Victor and started toward the hanger entrance. "Maybe that _is _why he picked me," he mumbled under his breath.

Liger roared after him, calling for Bit to come back and explain what was wrong. He never used words when the two spoke, but now he seemed to be struggling to express himself. Another desperate roar to get Bit's attention, his presence growing even more distant than before.

Bit ignored him, face still burning as he left the hanger and started toward the living quarters of the Battle Commission base. No one stopped him on the way up to his temporary room on the third floor. He stood in the middle of the room after closing the door, not knowing what to do with himself now that he was alone. After a long pause, he walked over to the bed and let himself fall onto it, his eyes half-closed as he stared at the ceiling.

Barely a minute passed before the whole building shook from a loud boom just outside his window.

Bit jumped back up and ran to the window to see what was going on.

Liger Zero roared up at him, the end his snout barely reaching the third floor window as he demanded that Bit come out and stop acting silly.

"You are _not _the boss of me!" Bit shouted back, both hands braced against the windowsill as he glared down at his partner.

Liger reared up on his back legs to bring his head level with Bit's window and roared the demand again. He was exerting a sort of pressure through their link now, forceful enough that it was beginning to make Bit's head hurt.

"No! Go back to the hanger and wait!" Bit snapped, jabbing a finger at the hangar's entrance.

Liger closed his mouth and let out a low, rumbling growl, then let himself fall back to all fours with enough force to shake the building again.

"Stop that!" Bit yelled, aware of several ZBC employees starting to make their way over. "You're making a scene!"

Liger shook his head back and forth, mouth opening and closing in time with a mumbling growl. He snapped his head back up and roared at Bit again, then lifted a paw.

"Don't you dare!" Bit snapped, pointing down at Liger Zero.

The paw pulled back for a swing as Liger snarled at him; if Bit wouldn't come out then Liger would just have to go in and get him.

"You're gonna get us in trouble!"

Liger Zero growled at him in reply, mere seconds away from delivering a swing that would surely gouge a sizeable chunk out of the building's wall.

There was a whir of wing boosters, and Kara dropped onto Liger's head.

He twitched, and for a moment it looked like he was going to shake her off, but he stopped when Kara let out a cooing growl. Liger replied with a half-growl half-mumble; he still didn't understand why this was happening, he just wanted things to go back to normal.

Kara spoke again, hers being the only half of the conversation that Bit couldn't understand. She seemed to get through to Liger though, and he lowered his paw and backed away from the building. He hesitated and Kara hopped back to settle between his boosters, then turned and started to walk back to the hangar. Liger stopped after a few paces and glanced at Bit over his shoulder, then looked away again and slunk off, his head held low.

That last look hit harder than any of the yelling, and Bit almost called Liger Zero back over. That wouldn't fix anything, though. He had to figure out how to get Liger to understand, for one. It would take a while just to come up with what he wanted to say. Instead, Bit withdrew and walked over to his bed again. He fell back onto the bed with a long sigh; he was upset, and now Liger was upset, and this whole thing was just a big dumb mess.

The phone rang.

Bit groaned and closed his eyes. Just what he needed on top of everything else. He dithered on what to do as it rang a second time: it could be the gang back home calling to ask about the outcome of the contest, or it could be someone else entirely.

The third ring was just ending when Bit picked up. Might as well get it over with if it was the home team, he didn't want this dragging out any longer than it had to.

"Hello?"

"Yes hello, this is Miranda from the front office, there's a Harry Champ asking for you? Would you like to take the call?"

"Um..." Bit paused. He could pretend he was busy, or just say that he wasn't up to a chat right now, but he'd already picked up the phone to begin with. Might as well get it over with. At least Brad was one of the more reasonable members of the team. Usually. "Yeah, sure."

There was a quiet click, and Harry's voice came through loud and clear. "Bit, hey! How'd it go?"

Bit paused, waiting for Naomi and Brad to speak.

"Something wrong?"

"Aren't Naomi and Brad there with you?"

"They went home for the day. Had some stuff to do," Harry replied, his tone edging toward nervous. "Hey, are you alright? You sound kind of down."

Knowing that Brad and Naomi wouldn't be around to critique him made Bit feel a little better. He paused regardless. "I lost," Bit said finally.

"Oh..." Harry paused, probably thinking of what to say. "Well, you'll win it next time."

"You don't know that," Bit said, his voice tired. "I couldn't even beat a bunch of unranked amateurs without Liger. He's the whole reason we've been winning."

Another long pause on Harry's end. "So Liger was the one who came up with the strategy you used in our first battle?"

It took Bit a moment to recall the battle itself. He was about to plunge ahead and brush that off as not being important, but stopped himself just in time. "No..." he admitted.

"You did that within the first week of getting into a cockpit," Harry continued. There was a slight tone to his voice that Bit couldn't quite identify. Sadness? Disappointment? "You can't be _that _bad."

That got one of Alex's many questions to flit to the front of Bit's mind again; Bit had done that within the first week, and in all he'd been piloting for under a year. How had he missed that earlier? The most he'd piloted before setting out on his journey was his foster dad's old Gustav, and from then on it had just been his truck until he ran into the Blitz Team. It had been a stellar first year all things considered, though now he knew that he had a lot to improve on.

"I guess..." Bit said. He sat up and rested his elbows against his knees. His head felt a bit clearer now, but he wasn't out of the woods yet. Bit did a brief review of his performance in the battle, something he hadn't dared to do just a few minutes earlier. "Did you watch the battle?" he asked.

"Not yet, you didn't tell us which competition it was," Harry replied.

"Oh. It was the battle royale at the Pine Mesa County Fair. Should be up by now."

"Let me find it."

Bit fidgeted, tapping the heel of his right boot against the floor while he waited for Harry to get to a computer.

Sounds were muffled on the other end from Harry putting his hand over the receiver, and after a few minutes that was replaced by the click and _tak _of mouse and keyboard. "Which one are you in?" Harry asked after a few seconds. "The Shield Liger?"

"Yeah," Bit replied. "The Zoid Battle Commission let me borrow it."

Another pause as Harry started to watch, muted sounds from the battle filling the silence instead. He was quiet for about the first minute or two, and then: "Whoa, that kick." Harry fell silent again as the battle continued.

Bit strained his ears, trying to match what he could hear of the recording on the other end to what he'd experienced in the thick of the battle itself.

"Two at once."

So that was the Gun Sniper and Helcat, which meant the end of his duel with Alex was next, followed by the skirmish with the purple Saber.

"Okay, done." There was a final click as Harry paused the video on the other end. It was followed by a creak as Harry leaned back in his swivel chair with a sigh. "I don't know, it didn't look that bad to me. You took out like four other contestants."

"And then got totally outplayed by the winner," Bit added.

"So? They were probably in their usual Zoid and you were piloting something new," Harry said, starting to sound a tad annoyed. "Why're you so down on yourself about this? It's not like you took a hit to reputation or ranking."

Bit sighed. Harry just didn't get it. "It's because I'm supposed to be _better _than this. Liger deserves better than this," he replied. "I'm Class S, I shouldn't be losing to a bunch of unranked pilots no matter what Zoid I'm in."

"Then fix it."

"Huh?"

"You're a talented pilot and you're only going to get better," Harry stated, well and truly impatient by now. "If you think you need to catch up to Liger then there's no better time to start training than now."

To go from barely any piloting ability to Class S in less than a year was impressive even with Liger's help, that was true. Now that he knew about his weakness he had the opportunity to fix it before they even started the S-Tour. It seemed that Harry knew what he was talking about better than Bit did, in this case. "I guess so," he said, starting to feel a tad better. And more than a little silly for needing this long for things to sink in. "Thanks, Harry. I think I know what I need to do now."

"No problem," Harry said, sounding relieved.

"Hey, Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you hold off on telling Brad and Naomi? I wanna tell them about what happened myself."

"Sure. I'll pretend I couldn't reach you," Harry said, a tad unsure despite his promise. "Are you worried about what they'll say, or...?"

It took some courage to admit the nagging fear aloud. "I'm worried that Doc might kick me off the team when he finds out," Bit said finally.

Harry scoffed. "I really don't think he'd do that, Bit," he said. "He'd be down a pilot _and _a Zoid since it's not like Liger's gonna accept a replacement. Not the best idea going into the toughest rank in existence."

Bit was able to manage the small ghost of a laugh as the tension started to ebb a little more. "Yeah, you have a point there. And after Doc spent all that time and money making custom components for Liger, too."

"See? This is just another challenge you gotta beat, it's not the end at all," Harry said. "I won't tell Brad and Naomi though, promise."

"Thanks again, Harry. I really appreciate it," Bit said, a smile coming to his face for the first time since his loss. "So how've things been going on your end? Got that team competition set up?"

"Oh yeah, we actually registered for that today," Harry replied, his voice more upbeat now. "And part of my collection came back, too!"

"Collection?"

There was a slight cough from Harry. "Yeah, the Zoids I lost to the Backdraft Group," he said, sounding ashamed of himself. "But I got some of them back! The Zoid Battle Commission confiscated all of the Backdraft's Zoids just after the Royal Cup, and they've been sorting through them trying to figure out who they were stolen from ever since."

"That's awesome!" Bit said with a grin. He didn't mention the fact that he'd had _no idea _Harry had lost to the Backdraft before this; he'd have to see if Brad or Naomi could fill him in on the details, since looking like an unaware jerk for not knowing wasn't an option at the moment. "Which ones did you get back?"

"Let's see..." Harry paused. "I got my black Redler, Midnight Saber, Gold Saber, Red Horn, Shield Liger, and Command Wolf AC back today. The Battle Commission says they'll do what they can to find the rest of them, so I guess it's just a matter of time."

"Glad to hear things are goin' alright over there. When's your team battle gonna be?"

"It's a tournament in Ellisville tomorrow, we'll end up going into five battles the first day if we win all of them."

"That soon? Well good luck, I'll try to tune in when you guys are in the arena. Tell me how it went after you're done for the day, alright?"

"Sure, I'll fill you in as soon as we're done," Harry said, his voice wobbling slightly. "Actually I need to get going, got some preparations to finish up before we head out tomorrow morning. Talk to you later?"

"Yeah! Thanks for calling, Harry. Talk to ya later," Bit replied. He took the phone from his ear and hung up, then let out a long sigh. It was going to be okay. He would catch up to Liger and be an absolutely stellar Zoid warrior by the time the start of their S-Tour rolled around.

Now to go talk to Liger.

Bit got to his feet and hurried off, out of his room and down to the ground floor, practically sprinting across the open stretch of pavement between the base's living quarters and the main hanger.

Liger Zero was standing in his designated spot, but Victor and Kara were nowhere to be found. It was preferable, and Bit wouldn't need them to intervene at all for this anyway. Liger turned his head to watch Bit as he got close and silently tracked him until Bit stood directly in front of him. There was an air of unease about him, and Bit could only guess that he was wary of being scolded for his behavior earlier.

After a few moments to collect himself, Bit looked up at his partner, eyebrows drawn with intense determination. "Liger, I'm not as strong as I should be now, but I promise I'm gonna get better. I'm gonna be the best pilot on Zi, just you wait!" He raised a fist as he made his pledge, and got an eager roar from Liger.

With a warm rumble, Liger lowered his head and gently touched his nose to Bit's knuckles with the promise that he too would continue to get stronger. His "voice" was loud and clear again, and happiness flooded through the mental link; he was relieved that Bit was back to normal now.

"Me too, buddy. Sorry for scaring you like that," Bit said, opening his fingers and resting the palm of his hand on Liger's nose. "I was scared too, but I think I know what to do now." He lowered his arm, and Liger withdrew. "Hey, how 'bout we go for a run? Maybe we can catch the sunset."

Liger roared with a bob of his head; the hangar was boring and being away from Bit for so long was bothering him.

"Alright, let's head out!"

They were just leaving the hangar when a trio of navy blue Saber Tigers equipped with Flight Packs approached them.

The leader of the three, a man in his thirties with brown hair and dressed in a Zoid Battle Commission pilot uniform, hailed the pair on comms and blinked with surprise when he first saw Bit. He recovered with a small laugh and a smile. "Didn't realize you'd still be in our uniform. We'll be your escort if you and Liger Zero decide to leave the base."

Bit glanced down at his clothes—he'd totally forgotten that he was still in the uniform after being swept up in the moment. "Where'd Victor and Kara go? Shouldn't they do that?"

"Victor Geist gave us our orders, he and Kara have been called away on business for tonight."

"Oh. Well okay, but you better not slow us down," Bit said with a cocky grin.

The man chuckled. "Don't you worry about that. Just go on as you normally would and we'll keep you safe."

Bit guided Liger to the base's entrance, the trio of Sabers following just behind them. He kept them at a walk until they reached the margin between the city of Pine Mesa and the wilderness that surrounded it, then let Liger run as he pleased.

Liger roared and took off, leaping with relief as he neared top speed. They were out running together and everything was okay again, which was all Liger needed to be happy for now.

The trio of Sabers kept pace with them easily; their leader hadn't been joking when he told Bit they could keep up.

They kept near the same speed for the whole trip, and a blazing sunset was just fading on the horizon when they arrived at the edge of the mesa that gave the town its name.

Liger lowered his head and opened the canopy, allowing Bit to hop down to the ground.

Bit seated himself between Liger's feet as Liger lifted his head and closed his canopy. He folded his arms behind his head and lay back, unbothered by the coarse dirt that made up this part of the mesa; nothing a little brushing off wouldn't fix.

Behind them, the trio of Saber Tigers took up their watch, each facing a different part of the mesa with weapons at the ready.

The stars appeared one by one, growing brighter in the clear air as the sun drew farther away. It was no wonder people had settled down here, with a stellar show like this to greet them on every cloudless night. Soon the Milky Way appeared in its full glory above, its vibrance jostling an old memory back to the front of Bit's mind.

"Hey Liger..." Bit said as he lifted a hand and traced the constellations with his index finger. There was the Hammerhead with its tail draped across the stream of the Milky Way and the Crown on the opposite side. "My pops used to tell me this story about the place we all came from a long time ago." He found the stars on the right-most side of the crown and drew a line from lower to upper, tracing the constellation's edge and shooting beyond it and into the middle of the Milky Way. The Galactic Center. "He said it was just like a mote of dust floating in a sunbeam, and that even though they figured out how to travel the galaxy, the place they came from was still so small."

Liger looked down at him, then up at the place Bit was pointing to and rumbled that Zi must be very small too.

Bit chuckled. "You bet, but even small things can be really important." He sighed as the train of thought wandered back to the events of the day. "Man, I was a bad sport earlier... I should congratulate the winner before we move on."

Liger looked down at Bit again, wondering if it was time to return to base.

"Yeah, it's gettin' pretty cold out here," Bit replied. He got to his feet and did his best to brush the dirt off his back and pants. "Let's head back."

* * *

The fair was still in full swing when they returned, its lights glowing above the walls of the base as Liger walked toward the hanger. Their escort broke off from them as soon as Liger was in the hanger, leaving the two alone again.

"Alright buddy, wish me luck," Bit said once he was out of the cockpit.

Liger did so with a bob of his head, then took up a resting position and fell silent.

Bit looked around in the hopes that the helmet he'd used earlier was still nearby and found it on top of the maintenance console for Liger's parking space. He trotted over to it and picked it up, feeling grateful to Victor for leaving it there. Hopefully the contenders would still be enjoying the fair and he'd be able to find the purple Saber's pilot so he could properly congratulate her on the win. He owed her that much at least.

* * *

**A/N: **Big thank you to Junuve for beta reading this time around! 3


	8. Tension (Season Prelude)

Harry was less than excited when he woke up that morning. Bit had done spectacularly in his battle the previous day despite the handicap, at least as far as Harry was concerned. Now Harry would have to measure up to two other pilots who were at the very least on-par with that level of performance. He didn't have high hopes for their matches today, for probably the first time since he started participating in competitive Zoid battles.

"You shouldn't just pick at your food, Harry," Sebastian chided, snapping Harry out of his musings. "You won't be able to keep your strength up for the battles today if you don't eat a good breakfast."

"I know," Harry mumbled. He did his best to finish, but still left a few bites of egg on his plate when he was done.

Time to prepare for the trip and load up the Zoids.

Naomi and Brad arrived just after loading preparations got underway, the Gun Sniper and Shadow Fox joining the other Zoids in the hangar for the time being.

Harry went to meet the pair of them as they hopped out of their cockpits. "Ready to go?" he asked, doing his best to look enthusiastic.

"Just about," Brad replied, a duffle bag slung over one shoulder and his free hand resting in his jeans pocket. "How many Zoids are you bringing?"

"You think I should bring more than my Dark Horn and Iron Kong?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"We'll be in five battles at most today if we keep winning, there won't be enough time to do in-depth repairs if our Zoids get badly damaged," Brad replied. He looked at the Iron Kong for a moment. "Also possible that they won't let you use a high-powered Zoid like that unless I switch to something else."

"Oh..." He'd known they would be fighting several battles in one day, but somehow the fact that his Dark Horn would probably get damaged and need to be swapped out hadn't crossed his mind. "I'll just bring all of them, then." He turned to go find Benjamin or Sebastian—whoever was closer—only to almost trip over Sebastian.

"Don't worry, Harry," Sebastian said. "We'll take care of loading the Zoids while you make sure you have everything you need for the trip."

"Right," Harry said. He turned back to Naomi and Brad. "I'll just go do that, then." He pointed toward the entrance of the hangar and the living areas beyond.

* * *

Naomi glanced through the doorway to the Whale King's bridge to check on Harry. He was slouched in one of the removable chairs while he kept an eye on their course, shoes off and his right leg curled beneath him with his elbows resting on his knees. There had been a change in his demeanor that morning, he was distressed over something and trying to hide it.

She hadn't mentioned it to Brad yet, and had been wondering whether or not she should try to get Harry to say more on the matter other than the typical white lie of "I'm fine" that he'd provided earlier. When Harry let out a long sigh that was loud enough to reach Naomi at the entrance to the bridge, Naomi made her mind up and walked in.

"Mind if I join you?" Naomi asked as she reached Harry.

He jumped in his seat and whipped around to face her. "S-sure! There are more chairs in the storage closet back there." Harry pointed back toward the entrance, where said closet made a slight indent in the wall.

Naomi retrieved a chair of her own from the closet and returned to the console.

Harry tapped a few commands into the console before him and one of the floor panels beside his own chair slid aside, revealing a hole where the base of the chair Naomi was carrying could be secured.

A few moments ticked by after Naomi settled into her chair, Harry watching her with a hint of nervousness from his own.

"You doing alright, Harry? You seem upset about something," Naomi said as she looked over at him, choosing to go the direct route rather than beat around the bush.

Harry's eyes widened, and he looked down at the floor with a sigh. "Is it that obvious?"

"Well I'm not sure if Brad noticed, to be fair," Naomi admitted. "Is it about the tournament today?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, not looking up at her as he fiddled with one of his long sleeve cuffs. "I'm nervous."

Naomi watched him for a few moments. "Do you want us to call it off?"

"What? No!" Harry said quickly, his head snapping up so he could meet her eyes this time. "I can still do it! It's just some pre-battle jitters, that's all!"

"If you're sure," Naomi said, still watching him closely. There had to be more bothering him than this, but she decided to let it be for now. She'd gotten him to open up a little, at least. "So, any E.T.A. for our arrival?"

"Around an hour before noon," Harry replied with a small smile, relaxing a little now that Naomi had dropped the subject. "We should have enough time to grab lunch before we start."

Naomi left off watching him and looked to the readout of their course instead. "By the way, did you ever hear from Bit yesterday? He was supposed to call but we never heard from him."

"Oh," Harry tensed slightly and looked down at the floor, then back up at the console. "Do you think he's okay?"

"I think so," Naomi replied, watching Harry from the corner of her eye. She crossed one leg over the other and interlaced her fingers at the knee. "He has that bodyguard with him now, after all. Might be that he got caught up in the fun and forgot to tell us about the battle."

"I hope so," Harry said, an almost imperceptible wobble to his voice.

Another thing he wasn't telling Naomi right now, apparently. Later perhaps, if Bit didn't call and explain himself first.

* * *

They arrived at around noon as Harry predicted, leaving the Whale King on the edge of the city and venturing inward via tram in search of a good place for lunch. Sebastian and Benjamin remained behind to make last-minute preparations on the Zoids. The three of them settled on a quaint bakery near the first stop on the tram line that offered quiche and sandwiches.

Harry picked at his quiche but otherwise tried to keep a cheery demeanor. Brad and Naomi were definitely onto him now, though, and he noticed that they seemed to be keeping more of an eye on him than usual. Thankfully they didn't press him on it, and conversation stuck to more mundane matters.

Soon enough it was time to head back out to the Whale King and take their Zoids to the staging area. Benjamin and Sebastian wished them luck as the three walked their Zoids out of the Whale King, lingering near the mouth to wave goodbye before returning to their work. Harry found himself hoping that luck would be in his favor as they neared their destination, at least he would have something going for him in battle if that was the case.

There was already a sizeable crowd of Zoids when the three arrived, with a large variety of models present. One of the technicians directed them over to a space near the edge of the crowd where a rough '17' had been carved into the dirt.

The three of them lined up so they were facing the large stage that had been set up farther out and allowed their Zoids to idle while they waited for the start of the tournament to get underway.

Time dragged on as more and more contestants arrived. Harry gripped the control sticks, his knuckles showing white and his hands shaking as they waited. After a while he relaxed them to save his fingers the strain and clasped them in his lap.

"Harry."

He jumped in his seat at the sound of Brad saying his name, and he looked over to the holo display that showed a view of Brad's cockpit.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, getting a little defensive as he put his hands on the controls again. "I'm fine."

Brad's cool expression remained unchanged. "Just wanted to be sure." The holo display flashed off, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts again.

At last the final stragglers arrived at the staging area and the Judge began to lay out the rules for them. It was all standard stuff for the most part: no foul play, no striking downed opponents, no leaving the cockpit until the conclusion of the battle.

Harry looked around and realized just how many Zoids were present—each team had three members, and there had over sixty teams present. He'd never seen this many Zoids gathered together in one place before, and that was when the sheer magnitude of the event hit him. You didn't get this many teams showing up for some out-in-the-boondocks local event, it had to be something special to warrant this many participants. That meant lots of TV coverage, lots of attention—and an even bigger audience to witness his inevitable screwups.

He spotted the imposing bulk of an Elephander towering above the surrounding Zoids and froze.

And it meant more than just hobbyists competing for first place. That should've been obvious, Brad was Class S and Naomi was Class A after all, but somehow the reality had escaped him up until now. There would very likely be other Class A teams in the mix with that being the case, lots of them.

"Keep your cool, Harry," Brad's voice cut across Harry's thoughts, startling him again.

A second blip as Naomi opened a visual comm to Harry's cockpit as well.

Harry looked up at Brad, about to ask how he knew.

"Your hands are shaking. It's making your Dark Horn jitter," Brad said before Harry could even start the question.

Harry flushed with honest embarrassment and looked down again.

"It's okay to be nervous, just don't let it overwhelm you," Naomi added kindly. "And if it makes you feel better, you're not the only one in that boat."

"Huh?" Harry looked up at Naomi this time. "What do you mean?"

"Take a look around and see if you can spot anyone else," Naomi replied.

Harry took his hands off the controls and leaned forward in his seat to look around at the other Zoids in their immediate vicinity. At first he didn't notice anything off about them, and then a twitch from the green Command Wolf just ahead of them drew his attention. He focused on it and was able to pick out a slight jitter to its normal idling movements. So that was what it looked like. Harry put his hands on the controls again and turned the Dark Horn's head to get a better look at the Zoids next to them: a blue Bear Fighter, an Arosaurer, a Heldigunner, another Command Wolf, and two Helcats were all showing signs of a nervous pilot.

"Oh yeah, you're right..." Harry said distantly as his Dark Horn straightened. "There's a bunch of them."

"Just focus on doing the best you can and leave the rest to us," Brad reminded him.

"All contestants will now proceed to the provided coordinates and await further instructions," the Judge's mechanical voice interrupted them as a map with marked coordinates appeared on Harry's main screen along with the [WAIT] command.

One by one, the teams at the edges of the gathering peeled off and started toward one of the two reinforced coliseums that stood in the distance. Finally the team to their right cleared the way and the [WAIT] command vanished.

Harry glanced behind them as they moved toward the arena and noted that the Elephander—flanked by a silver Rev Raptor on either side—was walking in the opposite direction. That was a relief, but he had a feeling that they would be facing them sooner or later.

The coordinates led them to one of the arena's entrances, which meant they would be one of the first teams to fight. Harry tried to keep calm as they walked through the tunnel, eventually emerging into the light on the other side where he got his first look at their opponent.

Two Red Horns and an Imperial Command Wolf stood across the way from them. Harry had fought them before, but he couldn't quite recall the name.

"Looks like we're up against the Redfire Team," Brad said as the three of them lined up. "Shouldn't be too hard."

"Run interference for me so I can set up," Naomi said, looking to Brad.

"Right."

"What should I do?" Harry asked, turning his Dark Horn's head to look at Naomi's Gun Sniper.

"The same," Naomi replied. "Just keep them off me and I'll work on picking them off."

"Okay," Harry said, though he was a tad fuzzy on the specifics of that.

The Judge that was stationed high up the side of the arena to their left interrupted any further strategizing. "Support personnel are now clear of the arena, prepare for battle!" It paused for a few moments to allow them a chance to prepare, then continued. "The Redfire Team vs the Hunter Team, Battle Mode 0963. Ready... FIGHT!"

The gong sounded, and the battle began.

Brad and Naomi surged to either side—Brad to the left and Naomi to the right—as the Red Horns and Command Wolf charged forward. Harry's Dark Horn stumbled as he started forward and hesitated, at a loss for who to follow. One of the Red Horns and the Command Wolf were bearing down on him even now, and a few blasts of gunfire landed around him as they started shelling. If he tried to follow Naomi now he'd only lead the rest of the enemy team to her... He lingered for a moment longer, then started after Brad.

The enemy pair corrected course to follow him as he did so, the wolf firing a few shots with its long-range rifle as they moved. The Red Horn followed suit as the pair drew nearer, firing on Harry with both sets of back-mounted guns.

"He's wide open over here!" Naomi called out over comms.

"Coming in," Brad replied.

Harry looked around for Brad, having lost track of him during a brief moment when he looked back to check the pair who were after him.

"Strike Laser Claw!" Brad's voice rang out over their shared channel, and Harry looked over his shoulder just in time to spot the Shadow Fox coming down on the Red Horn that had been chasing Naomi.

There was an explosion that shook Harry's Dark Horn, causing it to falter mid-step and collapse to the ground—one of his pursuers had landed a solid hit on the Zoid's near shoulder. "Come on, come on..." Harry wrenched at the controls, trying to get the Dark Horn on its feet before the pair caught up. The damaged shoulder groaned worryingly as the Dark Horn put weight on it.

No sooner had Harry gotten his Zoid up than a flurry of gunfire peppered its flanks. The Dark Horn shuddered and started to fall back to the ground as the remaining Red Horn charged in.

Harry was able to catch his Dark Horn before it could fall completely to the ground again and tried to turn toward his attacker. Frustration rose as his opponent continued to fire on him—he would be down for the count before he could even get his guns around at this rate. His Dark Horn stumbled again as it turned, and Harry grit his teeth and hit the pedal for the left side's boosters.

In his haste he slammed the pedal to the floor, and his Dark Horn was launched into the air by the sudden burst.

The Red Horn skidded to a halt and threw itself into a turn, trying to get out of the way.

Harry screwed his eyes shut just before they collided. The noise was brief but deafening as the Dark Horn's side slammed into the Red Horn's shoulder, knocking the both of them to the ground.

'COMMAND SYSTEM FREEZE' flashed on Harry's center console. The Dark Horn had finally reached its limit.

A moment passed as the dust started to settle. The Red Horn started to rise, struggling to untangle itself from Harry's Zoid. There was the screech and groan of straining metal as it started to pull away, and Harry looked over his shoulder to find that the weapons of the two Zoids had become interlocked in the fall. He winced as the Red Horn tried to pull away again. The back-mounted guns on his Dark Horn had to be badly damaged at this point.

His opponent's efforts were halted by a sudden explosion, and the Red Horn slumped to the ground—Naomi had gotten her chance to set up.

Harry let out a long sigh and released the controls, his hands aching from how tight his grip had been.

"All pilots are clear to leave the cockpit. Those with system freezes please stand by in the waiting area while your Zoids are removed from the arena."

The Shadow Fox and Gun Sniper walked up to the entanglement as Harry opened his canopy. "We'll meet you in the waiting area once our Zoids are taken care of," Naomi said over comms.

"See you there," Harry replied, trying to keep the disappointment from his voice.

The pair turned and walked out of the arena, passing a crew of four Gustavs with trailers as they entered the archway.

Harry undid his safety harness and climbed out of the cockpit. His legs wobbled a little when he hopped down to the ground, as if he'd been sitting for far longer than just half an hour.

A small open-sided bus approached, having already stopped by the downed Command Wolf and other Red Horn in turn. The pilot of the Red Horn that had become entangled with Harry's Zoid hopped down from his own cockpit and shot a venomous glare at Harry, which he did his best to ignore. Hopefully he wouldn't be sitting next to the guy on the way to the waiting area.

The bus came to a stop between Harry and the Red Horn pilot, and the two of them climbed on—the Red Horn pilot taking a seat beside his teammates while Harry took the empty side. He could almost feel the dirty looks that the other pilot was giving him as the bus left the arena.

The waiting area itself was a long room built into the second floor of the coliseum's outer side, its entrance located at the end of a long ramp. Harry let the Redfire Team enter first to avoid having the angry pilot glaring at the back of his head the whole way up, his eyes on the rough-carpet floor as he walked.

Harry took a place at one of the long windows that lined the waiting area, watching for Brad and Naomi's return. Reflections from the screens that lined the inner wall played across the glass, and he tried to ignore the highlights that were being shown of their battle. The Redfire Team talked amongst themselves behind him, their voices just low enough to keep Harry from overhearing their conversation.

"Hey! Rich kid!"

Harry's mouth tightened and his stomach wound itself into a knot.

"Eddy," one of the other team members cautioned, but the first continued.

"So buying off Jack Cisco wasn't enough, huh? Now you gotta buy a Class S warrior to carry you to the top now, too?"

"Huh?" Harry turned to the man. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Eddy snapped, waving a clenched fist to emphasize his point.

Harry took a step back in case the guy tried to throw a punch, and his back bumped into the window.

"I bet you cheated your way into the Royal Cup, too," Eddy added, eyes narrowing as he jabbed an accusatory finger at Harry.

"No, no! I didn't," Harry said, holding both hands up in front of himself. "I just got lucky with the Royal Cup! It's the truth!"

"Oh, and I suppose you 'just got lucky' with getting two top pilots on your team for some unranked competition too?"

"Hey, Eddy! Knock it off, he's just some dumb kid," one of the other Redfire pilots called, though he didn't move to stop Eddy's steady advance.

"Yeah, a dumb kid who shouldn't even be here!" Eddy shot back over his shoulder before returning his attention to Harry. "You don't even need winnings to keep your team going, so why the hell are you even in this competition?!"

"They asked me!" Harry blurted out, his hands still held up in front of him. "They asked me to join their team so they could compete!"

Eddy's scowl deepened for a moment, showing his annoyance at having his little theory disproved, but then it curled into a cruel sneer. "Oh I see, so they brought you on as a handicap."

"They—what?" Harry asked with dismay. "No, they asked me to come so the team would be balanced..." He noticed movement by the room's entrance, but he was too focused on Eddy to really register what it was.

"That's right, they're so good that they need someone who sucks as much as you to—"

A hand came down heavy on Eddy's left shoulder, unbalancing him and forcing him to turn to whoever it belonged to.

"So, what do we have here?" Brad asked, his voice low and menacing as he leaned in. "You harassing our team mate, buddy?"

"We were just having a conversation—" Eddy started, but Naomi cut him off.

"Really? Cause what we just walked in on was a grown man picking on a teenager. You should be ashamed of yourself," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and looking down her nose at Eddy. "Honestly. If you've got a bone to pick then pick it with us, not him."

"What's wrong? Are fellow adults too much for you to handle? Gotta blow off steam after getting outplayed in a match so you go after the youngest opponent?" Brad added.

Eddy's smirk was long gone, and he seemed to consider saying something more but held his tongue, scowling and yanking his shoulder out from under Brad's hand. "Come on, let's get outta here," he said as he reached his teammates.

The Redfire Team moved down the room. Brad straightened, and he and Naomi watched them go. Finally the trio came to a stop far enough away that they were nearly lost along the curve of the building.

Naomi relaxed her arms and walked over to join Harry. "You alright?" she asked as she stopped beside him and leaned against the window.

Harry finally relaxed as well, lowering his arms. "Yeah," he lied, looking away and scratching irritably at the back of his neck.

"That guy's a notorious trash talker," Brad said with a dismissive wave of his hand, crossing the last few paces to join them. "Don't take what he says seriously."

"Right," Harry said quietly. He looked up at the screens in time to spot a clip of his Dark Horn launching itself onto Eddy's Zoid and quickly looked away again.

"We can drop out if you want," Naomi offered.

"What, why?" Harry asked, looking up at her.

"We'd rather not drag you into something you don't wanna be part of," Brad replied matter-of-factly. "This competition's nice for keeping sharp, but we don't _have _to do it."

"Well..." Harry looked down at the floor as he considered it. As attractive as dropping out sounded now, he would feel even more ashamed of himself if he did. If he couldn't even do this then how could he justify returning to ranked battles when the next season started? "I want to finish this," he said, finally.

"If you're sure," Brad said, his gaze searching Harry's face before turning to the window behind him. "Sebastian brought your Hammerhead around to pick us up, we'll get the Dark Horn's status sorted out once we get back to the Whale King."

* * *

The Dark Horn was in poor shape when they arrived in the Whale King's main hangar. It lay in a heap where the tournament technicians had dropped it off, its beam cannon now completely detached and propped up against its back.

Harry winced as he looked at the damage, the warping in the leg joints from the crash and the bent cannon barrels from the entanglement, feeling sorry for the poor Zoid. This wasn't the first time it had been damaged to this degree, but it wouldn't be back on its feet without at least a few days of repair work so it wouldn't fight again in this competition. A sudden pang of guilt struck him as he turned to Benjamin and Sebastian; the Dark Horn was special enough that he'd won it back from the Backdraft, and yet here he was letting it get trashed. Some Zoid pilot he'd turned out to be.

"Your other eligible Zoids have been registered for use in this competition too, why don't you pick one out so we can get it ready?" Sebastian offered.

"The Red Horn," Harry said, almost without thinking. It was similar enough to the Dark Horn to not require much change in how it maneuvered, though it was under-equipped in comparison.

"We'll prepare it for battle, be sure to notify the tournament of the change before the next match starts."

Time passed in a blur and too soon Harry was back in the cockpit, staring down an opposing team of Zoids at Brad and Naomi's side.

The Judge declared the start of the battle and the enemy Zoids—a red Shield Liger and two Barigators armed with Gatling units—immediately concentrated their fire on Naomi, who was forced to run in order to evade their attacks.

"Can someone give me a hand over here?" Naomi asked, stress starting to creep into her voice as she just managed to keep ahead of the enemy's attacks.

"I gotcha, Naomi. Hang in there!" Brad charged the enemy team as they continued their assault, charging up a Strike Laser Claw as he came within melee range of the Shield Liger.

Harry joined in, returning fire on the Barigators but doing little to break their focus on Naomi.

As the Shadow Fox leaped into the air, the Shield Liger paused in its shelling to activate its energy shield and brace for impact. It was too late for Brad to correct course, and his Shadow Fox slammed into the shield and was repelled. He landed some distance away, where the Fox lay temporarily stunned by the blow.

The brief dip in focused fire was enough to allow Naomi the chance to fire off a missile barrage, but the Barrigators managed to shoot most of them down before they could reach them. Naomi would be knocked out at this rate, and Brad was sure to be finished off if she couldn't take out the Shield Liger.

Unable to think of anything else, Harry turned the Red Horn and threw himself between Naomi and the Barigators, soaking a few seconds of concentrated fire before an explosion brought his Zoid to the ground.

It was enough to get the Barigators to cease fire and dart to either side, trying to get far enough around to see past the smoke that billowed from Harry's Zoid. Behind them the Shield Liger started firing on Brad, landing several clean hits in the first few shots.

Suddenly the Shield Liger's flank exploded, causing it to stagger. It listed to its right side and struggled to keep its balance as the damaged back leg gave way, throwing off its aim and giving Brad a chance to get the Shadow Fox on its feet.

Harry half-turned in his seat to get a look over his shoulder and spotted the tip of a Gun Sniper tail just emerging from the smoke—Naomi had gotten her chance to set up. She fired again as he watched and hit one of the scurrying Barigators. It staggered mid-step and fell to the ground, a large hole blasted in its midsection.

Brad met no resistance as he charged the Shield Liger this time, landing a solid Strike Laser Claw attack on its back as it turned to face the direction the shell had come from. The Liger fell, electricity crawling between its damaged leg and and the deep gashes in its back.

Naomi was already lining up her next shot as the Shield Liger collapsed. She caught the other Barigator before it could get around Harry's Red Horn and out of her field of vision, missing the body in her haste but blasting the Gatling gun off its back instead.

The Barigator faltered, then kept going. Brad met it as it drew abreast with the Red Horn and pinned it to the ground, delivering a bite to the back of its head that put it down for the count.

"Battle over!" the Judge called out over the arena. "The winner is: The Hunter Team!"

The Shadow Fox lifted its head in a triumphant howl and hopped off the Barigator. Naomi's Gun Sniper poked its head through the clearing smoke and stepped over the Red Horn's tail, then met with the Shadow Fox at the downed Zoid's head.

"Thanks for the save back there, Harry," Naomi said. "That was just what I needed."

"Really?" Harry looked up at her holo window, surprised by the praise.

"It was messy, but it worked," Brad added. "Naomi's Zoid can't afford to take a lot of hits, you shielded her from most of the damage."

"Speaking of damage," Naomi said as her Gun Sniper turned its head to regard the Shadow Fox. "How's the Fox holding up? That skirmish looked ugly."

"He can still fight, but I'll have to be more careful," Brad admitted.

"Looks like you got a little ahead of yourself there," Naomi teased.

"Was just trying to keep you from being knocked out is all," Brad said with a shrug, starting to get a tad annoyed. "We can't afford to have either of us go down with a system freeze at this point."

"I know, I know," Naomi said, a playful smile on her face. "It's just fun watching you play knight, is all."

"Anyway, we should get ready for the next battle," Brad said, a slight flush showing on his face as he glanced away from Naomi's holo window.

* * *

Battle three, and Harry was in his Gold Saber. The way this Zoid handled was unfamiliar to him, making him even more nervous. He took a deep breath to steady himself and tightened his grip on the controls as the three of them walked into the arena.

"Just keep playing support, Harry," Brad reminded him once they came to a halt. "We'll take care of the rest as long as you have our back."

"Right," Harry said with a tense nod, his eyes locked straight ahead on the enemy team.

They were facing a blue Dibison and two Gun Snipers. The Dibison would be a threat from the get-go, and the Gun Snipers would make things difficult if they were given room to set themselves up.

"Hey, Harry," Brad said as the Judge began its usual preamble, startling Harry out of his thoughts.

"Yes!" he said quickly, looking at Brad's open holo window.

"Do your best to harass the Gun Sniper on the right. You're in a smaller Zoid now but you'll still outclass it in weight, just get in close and keep the pressure on while Naomi and I take care of the other two."

"Okay," Harry said, his shoulders lowering a tad; at least he had a better idea of what to do now that Brad had given him instructions.

"No need to bring it down, just keep it occupied until we can switch to it."

"Deep breaths, Harry," Naomi said gently as her holo window appeared across from Brad's. "It'll be alright."

"Yeah." Harry looked ahead and leaned forward in his seat, the straps of his safety harness starting to pull against his shoulders.

"Ready... Fight!"

The gong rang and the combatants leaped into action.

Harry made a beeline for the Gun Sniper on the right, just as Brad had told him to. He opened up the missile launcher on the Gold Saber's flight pack and fired off a barrage as he plunged in.

The Gun Sniper hissed at him and sidestepped the missiles, which spun off and exploded on the floor and walls of the arena—Harry had fired them too late, robbing them of the range necessary to get a proper lock on their target. The Gun Sniper then opened fire with its arm-mounted gatling guns, peppering the Gold Saber's shoulders as Harry closed the gap.

Harry lunged at his opponent as soon as he was in melee range, and again the Gun Sniper dodged, this time hopping nimbly back and delivering another volley as Harry chased it.

Damage was already starting to accumulate from the Gun Sniper's attacks, a shudder running through the Saber's body with every stride as a result. Panic rose as Harry tried to catch the Gun Sniper before it could bring him down, growing more desperate with every miss.

Another pounce and miss, but finally he was closing the gap. Just a little more and—

"Harry, behind you!" Brad yelled over comms.

Just a split-second too late. A substantial blast landed on the Gold Saber's rump just as Harry was turning to see what the threat was.

The enemy Dibison turned from delivering the finishing blow to Harry and found the Shadow Fox coming down on it with a Strike Laser Claw.

Brad landed a clean hit across the back of the Dibison's cannon unit, severing cables and scoring down to its back. He landed gracefully and kept running as the Dibison fell to the ground, bound for the remaining Gun Sniper.

This time the Gun Sniper turned to flee rather than dodge and fire. It was shot down by Naomi's sniper rifle a mere two steps into its retreat.

Harry rested his head against his seat with a long sigh—things were not going well for him today.

* * *

The fourth battle ended with Harry's Midnight Saber still on its feet but too damaged to continue on to the next match. It limped back into the Whale King's hangar and was directed to the nearest repair bay, where it would wait its turn while Harry's other Zoids were tended to. That left his Iron Kong, Command Wolf, or Cannon Tortoise to choose from, and the tournament wouldn't allow him to use the Kong unless Brad switched to a lower-end Zoid.

Brad and Naomi joined Harry on the boarding bridge as he climbed out of the cockpit, Brad pausing to eye the Command Wolf. "You should switch to your Kong," he said after a few moments of contemplation.

"You're sure?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Brad replied as he turned to face Harry again. "I'll do fine in a Command Wolf, and a Kong will give you plenty of weight to throw around in battle. Plus the Fox needs a break." He looked to Naomi. "Sound good?"

Naomi nodded. "That'll work," she agreed with a smile.

Declaring the switch to the tournament organizers went smoothly enough, and before long Harry's Iron Kong was lumbering into the arena with Naomi's Gun Sniper on his right and the white Command Wolf AC on his left. It was nearing twilight now, and the inside of the coliseum was lit by glaring floodlights placed high above its floor.

Harry felt a little more confident this time; not only was he familiar with piloting an Iron Kong, it was also more durable than his Dark Horn and would be easier to guard Brad and Naomi with if either of them got pinned down.

This time they were facing a green Blade Liger, a Heldigunner, and a blue Rev Raptor. The Blade Liger was the biggest threat, but the other two wouldn't be much trouble as long as they didn't focus on Brad or Naomi.

"Do what you can to pick them off," Brad said as their Zoids crouched in readiness for the coming battle. "We'll be using you as a defensive pivot, so be careful not to hit either of us by accident."

"Right," Harry said, and this time he actually felt it for the most part.

The Rev Raptor charged Harry as soon as the battle began while the Heldigunner circled around to the right where it would get a clear shot at Naomi. Mane panels on the Blade Liger's head opened up, activating the shield as it deployed its blades. With its shield up and blades out, the Blade Liger roared and lunged forward, charging the Iron Kong with an all-in attack.

Harry fired on the Blade Liger with the shoulder-mounted beam cannon, but the shield held firm and the Liger continued in its charge. The Rev Raptor was almost on him now with the Blade Liger closing fast. Better take care of the little guy first.

Naomi fired on the Heldigunner while Brad did the same to the Blade Liger. Meanwhile the Rev Raptor prepared to close the gap between itself and Harry, scythe blades out and at the ready.

At the last moment the fleet little Zoid dodged to the side and tried to get at Brad. Harry reacted almost without thinking. He pulled the Kong's left fist back and swept it around to catch the Rev Raptor before it could do any damage.

The Rev Raptor took the full brunt of the Iron Kong's fist and was hurled back. It thrashed in mid-air, trying to regain some semblance of control, only to collide with the Blade Liger's energy shield instead. The shield dissolved near-instantly and threw the Rev Raptor to the ground where it lay in a system freeze, arcs of electricity creeping around its body.

Brad kept firing on the Blade Liger, landing several solid hits to the Zoid's back and legs as it continued the charge. Harry followed suit with his beam cannon even as the Blade Liger popped its boosters up to accelerate the charge. Through their combined fire they brought the Blade Liger to the ground, mere meters before it would've pounced for an attack.

"All done," Naomi said, sounding satisfied as the Heldigunner fell from a well-placed sniper shot.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief that ended in a surprised laugh. "That went really well," he said, releasing the controls and leaning back in his seat.

"Looks like we should've used this combo from the start," Brad said as the Command Wolf straightened from the crouched stance it had taken during shelling.

"Good job with that Rev Raptor, Harry," Naomi added as her Gun Sniper switched out of its sniping position. "Were you actually aiming for the Blade Liger with that throw?"

"No," Harry replied with a chuckle. "Just got lucky."

"Either way that was a solid win," Brad said. "We've secured our position in the final battle tomorrow."

* * *

The three of them decided to have their dinner in the Whale King that night, where they would be able to relax and watch the day's battles at their leisure. Harry looked away or pretended to be busy when clips of his first four battles were shown, only having the courage to watch the final one. Being so sharply _aware _of his inadequacies all of a sudden still had a sharp sting to it.

They had moved on to after-dinner coffee and desserts when the phone rang. Benjamin answered it in the kitchen area, then brought the phone and its dock to the dining table. "Bit's on the line," he said as he hit the speaker button.

"Hey there, Bit," Brad said as Benjamin returned to the kitchen. "Checking in on us already?"

"Yep!" Bit replied. "I saw your battles from today, looking good."

Harry blushed and closed his eyes for a few moments—he felt bad enough without Bit patronizing him like that.

"We've done alright," Naomi said, smiling. "Just needed to work out a few kinks with the strategy is all."

There was a small pause, as if Bit was choosing his next words. "So, did you guys know that Stoller's team was fighting in the other arena?"

Brad sighed. "I was afraid of that," he admitted.

"Stoller..." Harry trailed off; the name was familiar to him but he couldn't quite place who it belonged to. He went cold as soon as he hit on the proper memory. "Wait, the guy you dueled in the Panzer?"

"Yeah, that's him," Bit replied. "He's not using the loadout he fought me with that time, though."

"We still had a hard enough time fighting him when he _didn't _have that loadout," Brad grumbled with a scowl. "'Course we run into Stoller in our first mixed team competition."

"So what'll our strategy be?" Naomi asked, resting her chin in the palm of her hand as she looked at Brad. "Even if we concentrate on the Elephander, the Rev Raptors are still a threat to smaller Zoids like ours."

"He's got Sanders and Pierce with him, they're both skilled pilots in their own specific areas but I'm not sure how well they do with Zoids they're unfamiliar with," Brad mused, eyes closed as he thought on it.

"So Pierce ended up joining Stoller after she left the Backdraft?" Bit asked, surprised. "Guess that makes sense," he added after a few moments' thought.

"Pierce specializes in airborne types while Sanders prefers Elephanders like Stoller. Hard to judge how good they are when all they have to do is heckle the enemy while Stoller picks them off, though. What a pain." Brad picked up his cup of coffee—Harry had to wonder just how much the man managed to drink in a day after hanging out with him in the past few days—and took a long sip, apparently lost in thought.

"The Kong's within the same size class as the Elephander." Naomi tapped the fingers of her free hand on the table, her gaze distant and settled on a far wall. "If Stoller gets tied down long enough we'd be able to pick off the other two and then focus on him."

"Wait so—I'll have to fight Stoller one on one?" Harry pointed to himself as he asked, his stomach twisting into a knot at the very thought.

"A Kong might not have such a bad matchup since it's so big," Bit added. "You might be able to knock out his shield if you damage the Elephander's ears too."

"There's a thought," Brad said, putting his cup down again. "It'll be easier to get some good shelling in if Stoller can't use his shield, and if Harry can keep him from shooting at us by reducing his range of fire..."

"I'll be free to set up once the Rev Raptors are down, and I doubt even an Elephander can hold up to a few well-aimed shots from my rifle," Naomi said confidently, a small smile coming to her face. She looked to Harry. "Think you can keep Stoller occupied while we do that?"

"I—" Harry had to seriously consider it. Stoller had a powerful Zoid, and was skilled enough in battle that he'd given Bit and Liger Zero a hard time. What could he hope to do against someone like that? "I'll try," he said.

"Fine by me," Naomi said with a satisfied nod.

"Speaking of battles," Brad began. "How did your battle go yesterday, Bit?"

"I lost."

The complete lack of shame and hesitation in Bit's voice was a shock to Harry, given the talk they'd had last night. He had to admire how quickly Bit could bounce back from that.

"Well, I hope it was at least to a veteran pilot," Brad said, sounding completely unsurprised at the news.

"Not sure, never caught up with her after the competition. She looked pretty young though," Bit replied.

"So you lost to a complete rookie?" Brad had a bit of a smirk on his face now, a strange mix of pity and amusement in his expression.

"Probably."

"You're awfully nonchalant with that being the case," Brad said.

"Well yeah I was upset at first but _that's _not gonna do me any good," Bit stated. "So I decided to just train up and get better."

"Always a good attitude to have," Naomi said with a nod.

"Also Harry helped me out after the battle," Bit added, sounding happy. "Thanks, Harry!"

"Yeah," Harry replied, deliberately avoiding Naomi's gaze now that Bit had exposed the lie he'd told her earlier. "Glad you're feeling better."

"So what've you been up to, Bit?" Brad asked, leaning back in his chair. "Been keeping busy now that the competition's over?"

"Just exploring Pine Mesa," Bit replied.

"Ooh? I figured you would've started toward your next destination by now," Naomi said with a chuckle. "Must be pretty fun around there."

"Well I can't really leave until Victor and Kara get back, gotta stick around the Battle Commission base until then," Bit admitted. "The fair's still going though, so that's been fun. Wish I could bring Liger, though."

Brad chuckled. "What, you think he'd go for playing the carnival games?"

"Nah just to see the sights," Bit replied, apparently oblivious to Brad's little joke. "He's been more curious about stuff ever since he met Kara, I think he'd enjoy it."

"Maybe we'll have to come out there and find you just so we can meet her," Naomi said playfully. "Sounds like it would be a fun adventure."

"She'd like that," Bit said with a quiet laugh. "Not sure Victor would, though."

"A meetup would be fun," Harry said. "Maybe we can plan one ahead of time, like in a few weeks or a month?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. What about you guys?" Bit asked, aiming the question toward Brad and Naomi.

"Nothin' better to do," Brad said with a shrug. "I wouldn't mind a little adventure during the off-season."

"We could make it a special event," Naomi added. "What if we got together for Christmas?"

"You're not seeing family around then?" Brad asked, eyebrows lifting.

"I visited them last year, I think they want a quiet Christmas without the whole family around this year," Naomi replied, her expression softening. "What about you?" she added, looking to Harry.

"He just has to make sure all his assignments are finished in time," Sebastian cut in as he placed a textbook beside Harry's dinner plate. "Anthropology essay due in two weeks, Harry."

"Aw man I completely forgot," Harry said, looking up at the ceiling in exasperation. "I'll start on it tonight," he added.

"What's it gonna be about?" Bit asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"It's cultural anthropology so it's about stuff like Ancient Zoidian cultures, pieces of Earth culture we kept when we came to Zi and how it's changed over the centuries..." Harry began. "Hey, I can probably use some of those books I got at Mrs. Rungaroon's restaurant in this too!" he said, his mood brightening considerably.

"You bought them without realizing that?" Naomi asked, giving a near-silent laugh.

"Well it didn't seem as interesting before she laid it out the way she did," Harry replied, with a bit of huff to his voice. "The textbook is so boring and stuffy with it."

"Fair enough," Naomi said. "That was quite the surprise find, I'm glad we decided to eat there."

"You guys gotta take me once I get back," Bit cut in.

"Don't worry, we will," Naomi replied. "It's on the list."

"So about Christmas," Bit said, steering them back on track. "Let's try to go somewhere special that none of us have been to before."

"Somewhere with snow," Harry suggested.

"Might be hard to find 'round this time of year, on Europa at least." Brad swirled the last remnants of his coffee but set the cup down on the table rather than finishing it off. "Delpoi and the northern parts of Haephestin should have it though. Nyx definitely would, not sure what the sightseeing's like up there, though."

"Should we all do a little research and share in a few days?" Naomi suggested.

"Yeah that sounds good," Bit said. "I'll ask Victor if he knows about any good places with snow."

"Until tomorrow, then?" Brad asked.

"Yeah I gotta think about grabbing dinner eventually and Liger still wants a run today. Talk to you guys later!"

The three of them echoed Bit's goodbye and he hung up. Benjamin retrieved the phone and took it back to its usual place near the kitchen, then finished tidying up the kitchen.

"I'm gonna go to my room to study." Harry stood, taking the book in one hand. "Night," he added, giving them a little wave.

"Don't stay up too late," Brad told him.

"And don't stress about the battle tomorrow, just do your best and we'll see how it turns out," Naomi said.

"Right." Harry didn't sound sure, but he gave them a smile regardless and took his leave.

Brad finished off his coffee while Naomi did the same with the last of her tart slice, the two of them allowing silence to drag on for a time. Benjamin had left some time ago, bound for some other task on the Whale King.

"So how do you think he'll do?" Brad asked once they were sure that both Harry and Benjamin were long gone.

"Not sure, but we'll have to work fast. It's not fair to make him fend for himself against someone like Stoller for too long."

"Yeah, you're right. We'll need to get those Rev Raptors down in record time if we're gonna have a chance of winning." He played with his empty coffee cup, turning it back and forth with a finger against the handle. "I've never seen Harry so bummed about Zoid battles before, least not for this long. Wonder what's bothering him."

Naomi's attention snapped to him. "He's not usually like this?"

Brad shook his head. "Nah, he has pretty overblown confidence even after a loss. It was on the annoying side but you had to admire his spirit, I guess."

"Huh... I never really met him before our chat so I didn't realize," Naomi admitted, resting her elbow on the table and her cheek against one palm.

"Come to think of it, the change happened right after you talked to him."

Naomi considered the possibility for a few moments, then sighed and let her head droop. "I just wanted him to stop the stalking thing, I didn't want to break his spirit."

Brad chuckled. "Don't worry about it, he's better off this way. No more setting himself up to get used by Leena, he can focus on healthier things to do with his time... You just yanked the rug out from under his feet, he'll get back up eventually."

"Hope so." Naomi lifted her head and stared at the far wall for a few moments before turning to Brad again. "Dunno how much today helped with that, though."

"He picked up toward the end, once he was in the Kong. Just gotta keep using that combo and we should do alright in other competitions too." Brad pushed his coffee cup toward the center of the table and rested his forearms on the span of tabletop in front of him. "We'll have to get on those Rev Raptors as soon as the battle begins. Harry's gonna need all the backup he can get against Stoller."

* * *

Many miles away...

It had been hours since the stealth-spec Storm Sworder dropped Victor and Kara off at the rocky border of the deeper desert sands. Night had fallen some time ago, and the light of Zi's two moons etched the surrounding landscape in pale silver. He and Kara had taken a perch on one of the ragged rock formations that overlooked the edge of the desert, their position hidden by a cluster of low-lying shrubs. Everything that grew here was hardy and sparse, which meant anyone trying to flee on foot would stick out like a sore thumb to the keen of eye.

Viktor was back in his Interface Suit for the first time since the incident with the orange Organoid, and he had to admit it felt good to wear it again. It fit like a second skin and was styled to match Kara's colors—stormy grays with purple highlights. He'd decided to forego a helmet or visor for this mission, since Kara's direct link to the suit and rifle itself would allow him all the extra accuracy he needed, and the targets would never get close enough to fire on him regardless.

A cloud of dust appeared on the horizon, catching their attention.

"Targets inbound," a voice said through Victor's earpiece.

That would be the pursuit team checking in, finally. He was ready to get back to civilization, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he was allowing Bit to stew far too long after such a demoralizing loss. Hopefully things wouldn't be worse by the time they got back.

Victor shifted his weight, easing off his left leg. It was already getting sore, a deep growing ache that started near the bone and gradually spread into the surrounding muscles.

Kara resettled herself behind Victor but made no sound other than a quiet whir of servos. _"What do you think will happen to these once they're captured?" _she asked, her question skipping Victor's ears and sliding directly into his mind.

_"Who knows?" _was Victor's silent reply. He shrugged, in part to loosen the growing stiffness in his shoulders. _"Reese showed more interest in them than the others. Perhaps they'll become part of her division if she's decided they're loyal enough." _

_"Interesting." _A pause, and Kara leaned in to nudge Victor's left thigh with her snout. _"You are still hurt." _

_"It's fine. There's not as much pain to it anymore, it'll be healed soon enough." _

Kara knew this to be the lie it was, but said nothing more on the matter.

The cloud of dust drew closer, and he could just pick out the shapes of individual Zoids now: a mixed group of Saber Tigers and Konig Wolves, all of them equipped for speed and maneuverability, with a quartet of blue Lightning Saix leading the pack. You had to be fleet and fast to harry targets like these.

The sand exploded just before the bedrock's edge. Four warsharks, one of them striking red, leaped out of the sand and beached themselves hard on the firm earth. They bounced and slid across the ground until they came to a halt, then struggled onward for a few feet before they reached the end of their strength. Their cockpits opened before the Warsharks fell still and the pilots jumped out, almost stumbling over themselves in their haste to get away.

_"Run the distance calculations for me," _Victor said as he adjusted his grip on his rifle. _"We'll make this quick."_

* * *

**A/N: **Big thank you to Junuve for beta reading and for listening to my crazy ramblings in general. ;) You're amazing, Jun!


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